Eternal Promise
by Jaycat
Summary: An unexpected meeting with an unexpected old friend causes Rory to reevaluate the course of her life. Mistakes will be made, hearts will be broken, and Rory will be left in the middle. Narco
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd be rich... which I'm obviously not. All rights reserved to the WB, it's creators, and its writers. 

**Chapter 1**

"I hate you!" she screamed into the phone, slamming it down on the receiver.

Lorelai cringed and leaned forward, out of Luke's embrace. "Rory?" she called through the foyer to the kitchen where she saw her daughter fuming, staring daggers into the phone with her stiking blue eyes. "Everything okay, hun?"

Rory jerked her head up and looked towards her mother. The image of Lorelai and Luke sitting on the couch wrapped up in each other was enough to make Rory want to puke at that moment. It wasn't that she was upset about her mother being happy, but rather that her mother was very much in love with a decent, hard-working, sweet guy who loved her just as much back, and Rory didn't have anyone like that.

As much as Rory tried to move beyond it, she just couldn't ignore the Huntzbergers opinions of distaste and unsatisfaction in her and Logan's relationship. And as much as Logan loved Rory, he refused to completely remove himself from his top-notch, high class family and thrive on self-sufficiancy. Rory simply refused to keep getting in the way of Logan and his father. So a couple weeks after their Valentine Weekend getaway, Rory had smacked Logan with an ultimatum: Either her or his family and their fortune. Least to say, Logan had thought the thing a complete joke. The dead silence on the other line told him otherwise, and in the heat of a brewing argument, Logan chose his family. He had tried to get in contact with Rory to apologize, but Rory had finally started down a new path in her life.

And it felt good… somewhat.

She was furious that the man she loved dearly was too childish to escape his parents' choke-hold over him to be with her. She was upset that she didn't have anyone to be in love with when everyone around her did. However, it was the first time in a year that she felt like she had some sort of control over her life again. And that felt good.

"Everything's fine, Mom," Rory said, plastering a fake smile to her face.

Lorelai and Luke didn't seem to believe her, for they intensely watched her without averting their eyes back to the movie they had been watching.

Rory shook her head and headed toward the door, disappearing from their view. "I need to go out for a while," she said. "Maybe get some fresh air."

"Okay, but not too much — it may take up the space in your head that you use to stuff those crummy news articles in," Lorelai called after her. She listened to Rory grab her coat and purse, and then the front door clicked open and slammed shut. She turned to face Luke. "What?"

"I told you not to like that kid," Luke said, returning his gaze to the television set.

Lorelai kissed his cheek and nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. "Yeah, well, she's a big girl. She needs to make her own mistakes and learn from them."

"Amen to that, sister."

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AN: How was that? This is my first fanfic that I'm posting, so please give me some positive feedback. If it's bad, then tell me what to do to improve it. If it's good, then you've made my day!

Also, I know there are a lot of Rory/Jess people out there, and I respect that. Jess is a cool guy, so don't be blowing your stack just because this is a Rory/Dean story. As you'll be able to tell with the next couple stories I write (about Gilmore Girls and Supernatural) you'll figure out that I am a Jared Padalecki girl, and most of my stories will be about him. Of course, that doesn't mean I absolutely won't write about just Rory or Rory/Jess.

Well, I guess that's that. Tell me what you think -- and please be positive.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd be rich... which I'm not.

**Chapter 2**

The few, light showers that Hartford was forecasted to have all day turned into a downright downpour of oceanic proportions. Therefore, earlier it had seemed like a nice idea for Rory to take a walk through the downtown streets of Hartford to clear her head. However, the idea of leaving her car right off campus wasn't so good.

Now, Rory hurried down the street, passing the few lunatics that actually liked being out in weather like that. Perhaps it was the rain, or darkness, that caused Rory to collide with one of the other crazy people hurrying to get out of the storm. She caught herself from falling, instead taking a step back. She mumbled an apology to the stranger who seemed as shocked as she, and turned to hurry on her way again.

The stranger's hand, however, reached out and pulled her back. "Rory?" he asked above the howling wind, pulling his hood off and revealing his face.

"Dean!" Rory was a little relieved and shocked to see him. It had been a little over a year since she'd heard from him. She still felt a little guilty about their falling out at her grandparents' mansion.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked.

"School!" Rory shouted, pointing down the street in the direction Yale was located.

"I meant, what are you doing out in weather like this?"

"Oh! I left my car by the college! I was just now heading back to it!"

"Want a ride?" Dean asked.

Rory glanced around, barely able to make out the difference between the sidewalk and street, and nodded. "That'd be nice!"

Dean guided her a few steps over to where his truck was parked against the curb. He opened her door for her, then ran around to his side and climbed in behind the wheel. Once they had escaped the torrential rain and howling wind, silence fell among them. There was so much to say and so much to leave unsaid.

"Thanks," Rory finally replied.

"Of course," Dean supplied. He turned the key in the ignition and brought life to the vehicle. After a moment, heat began pouring through the air ducts, warming their soaked and freezing clothes. Dean pulled onto the road and followed the old shops towards Yale. Rory pointed out which streets to turn onto, and in a moment, Dean had pulled over behind her silver Prius. Rory made to get out of the truck, but something inside told her to sit still.

There had always been something about Dean's presence that made Rory forget there was a world surrounding her, full of people and things. When she was with Dean, all she saw was him. Granted, there had been times when she'd been side-tracked, and her mind had wandered her over to other things – other boys. But she had been young, and inexperienced, and had wanted to test the world. It was justified, right?

Her mind wandered back to the last night she'd seen Dean. Whatever means she had were not justified that night. There were so many ways she could have avoided - salvaged – the bitter end of their relationship, but she stood by and let it flounder. She felt slightly guilty then, something she'd been trying to avoid feeling tonight. She'd never been that fair to Dean. He had loved her unendingly, unconditionally, and unquestioningly from the very start. She, on the other hand, had never been so true to him. There had been a Tristin, a Jess, and a Logan. But Dean was her first love that some higher power kept throwing her way, every time she realized she felt incomplete. What that meant, Rory didn't know exactly, and she was too tired and wet to over-analyze it tonight.

"Thank you for the ride," she said. She sat still though, staring at Dean and really taking in his appearance for the first time. His features looked older than expected, and his eyes held tire in them. His hair was a bit longer, and the part was gone from the front, covered with long bangs. His jawline was a bit more distinct, and he looked thinner in the face and waist than Rory could remember.

"You're welcome," Dean said. Though he had been the one to stop her and offer the ride, he seemed horribly uncomfortable right now. He wouldn't turn to face Rory, just kept his eyes on the steering wheel, occasionally glancing up at a particularly large splatter of rain that hit the windshield.

More silence.

Rory wasn't sure what was stopping her from getting out of the truck. Something told her to hang onto Dean, whether intimately or casually, she didn't care. She needed someone to be with… she needed a friend desperately tonight – a guy to hold her and tell her it was okay. And in her mind, Rory knew that it had to be Dean. It couldn't be anyone else, because she simply didn't feel the same in anyone else's arms. She also knew, that if she got out of that truck, Dean would drive away… possibly forever, and she would lose him all over again.

You don't get more than three chances, do you?

"Where are you staying?" Rory finally asked.

Dean finally turned to look at her, his brow creasing in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, it's flood season in Connecticut, obviously, and it's getting late and you look dead tired. I don't want you to have to drive all the way back to Stars Hollow in this weather. It would take forever."

"I'll be fine."

"Please?" Rory asked, resting her hand on his arm and giving it a squeeze. "I have an apartment right around the corner. Nice, warm, and ready for a good night's sleep."

"I don't think we should," Dean said, staring at her hand on his arm. The feeling of what could have been between them hurt so badly that Dean swallowed a lump in his throat.

"The couch is real comfy, almost as much as the bed," Rory said with a grin.

Dean lifted his gaze to her's. Bad idea, he scolded himself. He melted everytime he looked into those shockingly, cool blue eyes, and this time was no different. He was a slave to her, a servant to her every command and whim. "Alright," he agreed, not even aware of the word falling from his lips.

The apartment was too much. Dean sent Rory a sideways glance as he entered the lavishly decorated studio apartment. Rory shut the door and stepped into the warmth of the room, over to the kitchen to make what she knew she and Dean loved – coffee.

She chuckled at Dean's insecurity, though a voice in the back of her mind nagged that it was well placed. This wasn't her apartment; it was Logan's. However, in Rory's logical sense, it was both hers and his, and he'd been away in Paris on his father's order. So there was to be no recent return of him to his apartment… at least not while Rory finished up school for the year and moved her belongings back into her grandparents pool house.

"It's mine, don't worry," Rory stated firmly.

"They sure do give extravagant gifts to precocious Yale attendees, huh?"

The coffee maker beeped and Rory poured herself and Dean cups before joining him on the couch in front of the fireplace. With a touch of a button, the fire came to life, spreading warmth through their bodies. It felt - right - the two of them sitting together in the quiet warmth of the firelight.

"So, what have you been up to?" Rory asked Dean.

"I got a job up here at Tyler & Son Construction. It's only part-time while I attend school."

"School?"

"Just a couple classes at the Community College," Dean said, waving his hand about. He took a swig from his mug and cocked his head at Rory. "What about you? School going good I presume?"

Rory shrugged. "Not the way I planned it," she said. Noting the look of puzzlement on Dean's face, she summed up her first year of college. "I stole a yacht and decided to take a year off, but I only made it a semester."

"What?" Dean asked, nearly choking on the coffee. "Stole a yacht? What for?"

"This guy I was dating, his father was this big newspaper exec that told me I didn't have a shot at being a journalist, and I got a little upset and decided to steal a yacht. Then, because of all that, I decided to take a year off, got in a huge fight with my mom over it, and lasted only a semester before coming back."

Dean shook his head and put his mug down. "Wow," he uttered, his voice low. "That's…"

"Not like me at all?" Rory supplied, then nodded. "I know." Her emotions were starting to get the better of her. She'd told herself she wouldn't cry over it anymore. What was done was done. Still, the warm tears pooling at the edges of her eyes and blurring her vision, seemed like a – reward if you will - for the pain she'd suffered and habored alone.

It wasn't even hesitant, the arm that wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her closer to the one person she longed to be with. It was strong, and welcoming, enveloping her form in a tight embrace. Sobs now poured out of her, and she buried her face into his shoulder, crying in what seemed like eternity. Dean didn't say a word, just rested his head on hers, letting her get out what needed to be got out. That was all Rory ever really needed… someone to hold her and let her emotions out, because Lord knows, she can't seem to do it herself. Emotions are tricky things that logic can't be compared to. And Rory was logical, anxiously so.

"Dean, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you," Rory cried, moving her head to look up into his face. "I've always loved you, Dean, always."

"Shh," Dean said softly, placing his finger to her lips. "It's okay, Rory. I understand."

"No, you don't. I was stupid… I let Jess and Logan come between us, and look at what I'm left with. I'm all alone, Dean. I don't have Jess or Logan anymore; they left me because they don't love me enough… and I pushed you away and hurt you, and here you are sitting with me still," Rory confessed. "It's not right! I hurt you… I don't deserve you."

In the heat of the moment, Dean leaned down and kissed Rory. It had been to keep Rory quiet, and maybe answer several questions rampaging through her head. However, it lead to a great deal more, for neither resisted the temptation brought with the kiss. The passion lost between the two was enough to warm the world through the cold, rainy night. And when it was all over, Rory curled up beside Dean, his arm wrapped around her shoulder still, gently caressing the soft, bare flesh. Neither said a word, afraid it might be too much too soon. They fell asleep in each other's arms, listening to the pounding rain.

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AN: I wasn't planning on posting this for a couple days. I actually have about five chapters done already, I just didn't want to post them because I don't really write on a schedule, and I don't want to post everything I have and then have all of you sit and wait and wait and wait for the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you like it since this has Dean in it. As always, R&R please! 

Also, I'm not really sure with this whole rating system, so I just gave it a K+ rating since there isn't any real explicit content. I mean really, "soft bare flesh" isn't really that graphic is it?


	3. Chapter 3

Dislaimer: I wish I owned them... really... but I don't :'(

AN: Thanks so much to SkitteryIdol who reviewed! You're my first reviewer! And I know that things went a little fast with Rory&Dean in the last chapter, but I wanted to get to the good stuff. But you're so awesome for reviewing! Thanks!

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**Chapter 3**

Morning came too soon, and with it, Dean's absence. Rory found a note from him on the bar, indicating that he would see her back in Stars Hollow. She sighed. What had seemed like an unforgettable night really was forgettable. Glancing around the apartment, Rory found a message on the machine. She pressed the red button to listen.

"Rory, Mom here," came Lorelai's voice. "It's 5:20 in the morning, and you're not in your bed. Wanna know how I know? I'm staring straight at it. Ha, so, I figured you got caught in Hurricane Hartford and didn't make it back to Stars Hollow. Fine with me; I got to keep Paul Anka all to myself, and Luke got the couch. So, call me later so I don't freak that you were in that humungous car crash on the bridge. Bye."

Rory rolled her eyes. Sometimes she had to wonder who was the child in the family, her or her mother. Lorelai could sure give her a run for her money.

There was another message on the machine.

"Rory," sighed Logan's voice, "we really need talk… over the phone, voice to voice. I'm sick of the machine, and I have the strangest feeling you're not even listening."

"Wrong, Ace," Rory mumbled mimickly.

"Look, I turned down my father's offer to head his Paris office. I finally said no to the man. I'm coming home to you… the woman I love. I'm sorry about the family, and all those stupid girls… but I can't erase all those mistakes, Rory. I can only try to correct them. So, my flight arrives in Hartford at 10:30 in the morning. If my math's correct, it should only take a half hour to get through customs, and ten minutes to get to the apartment. Hopefully, I'll be there to surprise you after your classes. Bye, Ace," the machine cut off with a deafening beep.

Rory was left standing speechless at the desk. She could feel her heart rate quicken, and her breathing became slower. Logan… coming home? It wasn't what she had anticipated, that's for sure. Her eyes fell on the clock above the door. If Logan's flight was on time, Rory only had three hours before he'd arrive at the apartment. She took in the shape of the loft, the realization of last night finally dawning on her.

She slept with Dean. Again. In Logan's apartment.

Closing her eyes, Rory hoped the entire scene would disappear. Hoped it was all a nightmare or some delusional dream she'd had from being out in the bad weather for too long. However, opening her eyes, Rory found the same messy sheets in the same messy bed in the same messy apartment. Logan's apartment.

She didn't want this. Not now. She didn't want to be with Logan right now, least of all be in his apartment with him. She wanted to go home… back to Stars Hollow and her mom and Luke, and Lane, and… Dean. She wanted to see him again, to see if the feeling was still the same, not just a long-time-no-see, butterflies sort of thing. A I-love-you-forever, you're-my-soul-mate type of thing.

Reaching into her purse, Rory pulled out her cell phone. "Mom? I need help moving my stuff out of Logan's. I want to come home to Stars Hollow."

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Lorelai and Luke showed up to help Rory pack up her stuff. They loaded the big, heavy stuff into Luke's pickup with the help of two doormen. The small boxes fit nicely into Rory's Prius, and as Rory was grabbing the last box, Luke and Lorelai pulled out into the midday traffic of Hartford. Rory got into her car and pulled off after them, glancing in the rearview mirror long enough to see a limo pull up in the space her car and Luke's pickup had occupied only moments before. She saw Logan step out, completely oblivious to Rory's Prius driving down the street, out of his life forever. And Rory did nothing but avert her eyes back to the road ahead of her… and Lorelai waving crazily back to her from Luke's pickup.

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AN: Please R&R! It's giving me inspiration and encouragement! Also, I try really hard to make Lorelai seem like Lorelai, but it's hard because of how fast she's supposed to talk and how so many of her jokes are based off of popculture/movies/music and stuff, so if any of you guys could give me some tips on writing her character, I'd appreciate it. R&R! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1,2,&3. I'm getting bored of writing this... (yawn)...

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Chapter 4

---_Four weeks Later_---

It was the fastest things had ever changed in Stars Hollow. At least in Rory's opinion. The small town usually buzzed about the new special in Luke's diner. You know – the one that's been the same for the last three years, and fifteen years before that. Now, though, the town buzzed with murmurings of Luke's 12 year old daughter, the post-ponement of Luke and Lorelai's wedding, and the announcement of Zach and Lane's engagement.

Rory was truly happy for her best friend. Lane and Zach were perfect for each other. Both musicians with the knowledge of the entire music industry at their fingertips. Rory was surprised there existed another person to challenge Lane's musical knowledge. She was surprised the two hadn't loved each other from the start.

"It'll be in the fall or winter," Lane explained when Rory asked about the wedding. "Hep Alien's got a performance for this record label, and Zach and I don't want anything to get in the way after the band just got back together."

"I bet your mom's really proud, huh? I hear she's on board with this whole music thing," Rory said.

Lane shrugged. "She was okay with the whole band thing, and then she got over the fact that I'm not dating a Korean, but I thought she'd have a stroke when I told her I was engaged to Zach. I think she's coming around though. She doesn't want to push her only daughter away, I guess."

"Sounds like Lorelai got to her again."

"Really. So, how's school going?"

"I've had to work my butt off twice as hard to catch myself up a semester."

"You do look a little pale, Rory," Lane noted.

"I think I caught some sort of bug or something. I've had double and triple workloads with my classes and the paper, driving back and forth from here to Hartford every morning," Rory sighed. "I'm beginning to rethink not moving back in with my grandparents."

Lane patted Rory on the shoulder.

"I had to beg Paris to come back to the paper, and make her co-editor. I think there's going to be another mutiny," Rory said darkly. "I lost three photographers due to her wrath. And one of my reporters is being held for ransom, I think."

"Sounds like fun," Lane joked.

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"Rory?" Lorelai made her way through the boxes that had taken up board in her entryway. As much as she hated the tight space, it felt good to have her daughter home. Then again, the whole retching in the toilet thing was getting to Lorelai. She was worried whether or not Rory was taking on too much, and making herself sick. "Hey kiddo, how're you feeling?"

Rory sat back on her heels and flushed the toilet. "I'm fine, Mom," she said, more for herself than for her mother. She picked herself up and straightened her shirt.

"Hun, you've been sick for weeks. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Rory nodded, walking past her mom and grabbing her purse from her doorknob. "I have some things to do in Hartford. I'll call you later and maybe we can order a pizza and watch a movie? I know it's not Friday, but I really need…"

"Whatever you want, hun. Luke promised to hang out with April tonight, anyway," Lorelai said. She followed Rory to the front door.

"Are you sure you're okay with the whole April thing?" Rory asked, turning around. "I mean, it's okay if you're not. Luke did hide it from you, and…"

"And it was hidden from him for 12 years," Lorelai sighed. She forced a tired smile. "I've talked with April. She's a smart girl… so much like you. Really, I'm fine with it. I just don't want to push Luke into a life-altering decision when he's already having to deal with this one. Really."

Rory reached out and hugged her mom. "I'll call you later," she said again, before walking out the door.

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**AN: **I have the next chapter written up already, I'm just tweaking it, and I won't be able to post it until tomorrow afternoon. My whole plan of writing the story and then posting it isn't working, because I'm excited with the good, positive reviews I'm getting. I'd like to hear from more of you though! So please **Read&Review**! 


	5. Chapter 5

**Dislaimer**: Nope, sorry, don't own them.

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**Chapter 5**

Lorelai waited up for Rory that night, bowl of popcorn and a movie in hand as her daughter walked in the door.

"Where's the pizza?" Rory asked as she headed back to her room.

Lorelai followed. "On it's way," she said. She held up the movie to show Rory.

Rory scrunched up her nose seeing the title. "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Mom, seriously, what deluded you into renting that?"

"Well," Lorelai shrugged, a deviant smile on her face. "It was the only thing left in the movie store, shocker, and I like to make fun of the fact that the one girl looks so much like you. I had twins, and the hospital lost one," she joked and headed back to the living room.

Rory rolled her eyes as the doorbell rang. Poking her head out of the door to make sure Lorelai was busy with the pizza, she called, "Be there in a minute! Have to use the bathroom!"

Five minutes later, Lorelai had the pizza box open and the movie on pause as Rory emerged from the bathroom. "About time," she muttered with a mouthful of pizza. However, seeing her daughter distraught, white-faced, and on the verge of tears, Lorelai swallowed the hot lump of pizza and hurried over to Rory. "What's wrong, kiddo?" she asked, dropping her hands on Rory's shoulders and ducking her head down to look up into Rory's sad face.

Rory held up a small white stick. A couple seconds passed before comprehension hit Lorelai as to what it was making her daughter so upset. The look Lorelai held on her face wasn't one of anger or pity, but sad understanding because she had once been in the shoes her daughter was now standing in. The only difference - she had been sixteen when she'd become pregnant, and Rory was twenty-one.

As tears crept into her shockingly blue eyes, Rory brought her hands to her face and Lorelai wrapped her arms around her shaking form. And they stood there and cried together, for the breakups, the makeups, and the uncertain future for them both. But at least they were together now.

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"Are you sure it's Dean's?" Lane asked.

Rory nodded, though she knew her best friend couldn't see her through her phone. "Positive. The last time I slept with Logan was weeks before Dean, and that'd mean I was at least two or three months pregnant by now. No, it's Dean's alright," she said forcefully.

"Wow," Lane said. There was a pause before she asked, "Where are you, by the way? Didn't you promise to stop by and watch Hep Alien perform one of its last small gigs?"

"Sorry, Lane," Rory said as she manuevered her Prius through the traffic heading into Hartford. "I ran into Clara at the market and got Dean's address in Hartford. I'm heading to his apartment now, to tell him about everything."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, if Dean still felt the same, don't you think he would've looked you up in Stars Hollow?"

"I don't care how he still feels," Rory lied. "I have to tell him that he's going to be a father, Lane. It's only right that he at least knows."

Lane sighed, "I just don't want to see my best friend get hurt again."

"I'll be careful. I promise," Rory said. "I'm almost there. I'll call you later and tell you how everything goes, alright?"

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye." Rory flipped her phone shut and shoved it into her purse.

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She felt a rush of excitement as she acsended the stairs. Something about how wrong and right it felt to be pregnant… with Dean's child. She was unsure whether or not this would be good news for Dean. She didn't want to shatter the life he'd rebuilt for himself after Lindsay and then after her. Then again, she hadn't really planned to shatter the life she was rebuilding for herself. And they had both been aware of the consequences of their actions. It had just felt so free and right the way they felt together - moved together - in that storm.

Rory could hear the voices long before she set foot on the landing.

"God, Dean! How could you sleep with another woman?"

"What right do you have to accuse me of cheating on you, Sarah?"

A horrible sinking sensation settled in the pit of Rory's stomach, and her feet began to move slower as she headed for the door the voices seemed to filter through.

"I could smell her on you that night! And you hadn't come home either!"

"So? I told you I was caught up in the storm! I stayed at a friends house until the roads cleared!"

"What friend?"

"You don't know them!" Pause. "Sarah, I love you. I'm still with you. If there was anyone else, do you think I'd still be living here with you?"

Rory's heart and feet stopped several feet from the door. Dean's words had cut through her like glass. She couldn't breathe or blink, paralyzed with the understanding that she had been wrong. Again.

"I need some air. I'll be back later."

The door was yanked open, and a thin, tall, redhead came storming out. She could easily be another Lindsay, if she'd had blonde hair. She seemed ditzy and - loose - as she shoved past Rory and disappeared through the stairwell door.

"Rory… uh, hi."

Snapping her head back to the door the redhead had come through, Rory found Dean with his hand against the door frame. He looked a bit unnerved and frazzled, but flashed her a smile - as fake as it was - anyways.

Rory still didn't move though.

"You wanna come in?"

"Who was that?" she asked, changing the subject.

Dean sighed, knowing how well this would all end. "Sarah Williams," he said. Seeing the hurt look in Rory's eyes, he added, "That night, I'd been in a fight with her. I never meant for it to get as far as it did. I swear I never wanted to hurt you, Rory."

"Is that why you stayed away from Stars Hollow?"

Dean nodded.

Rory smiled sadly and nodded her head in understanding. "I hope you find happiness, Dean." And before either could say any more, she was through the stairwell door and running down the stairs. And Dean didn't run after her.

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**AN**: Alright, I know, this chapter sucked. But I realized that Dean had disappeared in the four weeks that have taken place in the story, and I needed to explain his absence. Granted, I could've gone another route, but... oh well. As always, **Read&Review**, and tell me what you think! 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: See Chapter 1...or 2, 3, 4, or even 5. You have a plethora to choose from.

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**- Chapter 6 -**

Stars Hollow was usually a very vibrant town at night. The citizens made it a fairy tale out of a book by draping lights across shop windows, trees, and the gazebo in the center of the town. And there was always someone out in the streets: couples holding hands, kids leaving the BWR movie, or Kirk following up some crazy scheme of Taylor's. However, the center of the town was as alive tonight as a vacant roach motel.

Rory was still trying to get over the loss of Dean when she spotted the familiar, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, leather jacketed young man sitting on the bench across from Luke's Diner. She pulled her car over and climbed out.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

He held out a cup of coffee. "Brought a white flag, Ace." He nodded toward Luke's and added, "I had to pay off some weird, schitzophrenic dude to go in there and buy me two cups. Appears Luke has no liking for me any longer."

"Smart guy," Rory said, taking the warm beverage and taking a sip. She didn't sit down, though. "I repeat, what are you doing here?"

"Came to ask for forgiveness," Logan said with a sigh. Seeing the look of skepticity on Rory's face, he added, "I love you, Ace."

"No, you don't."

"And how do you know how I feel?"

"A) it took you four weeks to realize it and B) because I don't love you."

It hurt. Rory could tell from the look on his face. But it was the truth, and that's what made it hurt. And it needed to be said. She didn't love him, only his company… sometimes. And he didn't love her, only her unbelieveable stubborn streak of never backing down and always up for a challenge. That was their relationship… and it was finally over.

She thought.

Logan wasn't one to give up on her so easily. "Rory, I love you. Please, trust in me that I am giving up that entire life. I'm a new man." He stood and moved close to her, cradling her cheek in his hand. "Losing you has made me realize that I do love you." He pulled out a box and dropped to his knee, opening it to reveal a beautiful, diamond engagement ring. "Will you marry me?"

Neither Rory nor Logan saw the dark blue truck sitting down the street. Neither saw Dean's lips purse together, his hands gripping the steering wheel more tightly. Neither felt the rush of guilt he did, realizing he was a little too late. And neither saw him drive off, out of their lives. Again.

Rory stared blankly at the ring.

Logan had done everything she'd asked him to do. He'd given up his family and life to be with her because he loved her. And here he was, asking her to spend the rest of her life with him. But something felt wrong about it. Did she love him? Slowly she shook her head, and a confused look came across Logan's features. She didn't get that feeling in her stomach when she was with him. That feeling of forever that she got only when she was with Dean. And as much as she knew Dean wasn't going to be her one and only, her gut instinct was screaming at her to say no to Logan - that this isn't meant to be, no matter how upset she is that she lost Dean and he found someone else.

"I can't Logan," she mumbled, her hand clasping her mouth as a sob worked its way out. With sad, puppy eyes, she shook her head again. "I can't because I don't love you. I love someone else."

Logan nodded levelly. He closed the box and stood, dusting his pants off. With what looked like an unusually perturbed look, he calmly asked, "Who?"

"Dean," she said simply.

"That guy from last year? The one from your grandparents' party?"

Rory nodded. After a pause, she furrowed her brow and asked, "How did you…?"

"I've met your other boyfriends, Rory," Logan said with a misplaced grin. That cocky grin he always wore. "None of them ever seemed to hold such a devastated look in their eyes at the prospect of losing you or having already lost you to a guy like me.Dean did. If I didn't love you as much as I do, I would probably still feel the guilt of what relationship I destroyed that night. However, I never would've gotten you if it hadn't haveturned for the worse, huh?" It wasn't so much gloating as a statement. And Logan truly looked hurt by the pain he'd caused.

"We got together," Rory admitted. "Things got a little far, and we slept together."

Logan looked a little taken aback by this. Perfect, chaste Rory had cheated on him? He quickly reminded himself that he and Rory hadn't really been a couple - they'd broken up some time ago, though he'd let her stay in his apartment till the end of school.

Rory was rubbing her eyes now. "I'm, um, pregnant, Logan," she said.

That's what really shocked him. Not hurt, just shocked.

"And I, uh, don't think he loves me anymore. I mean, why should he?" she asked, the tears coming again. "Look at what I did to him. First Tristin, then Jess, and now you. I was never fair to him. And he's found someone else again, and, and… what am I going to do? I can't tell him about the baby now, can I?"

"Whoa, whoa, Ace, slow down," Logan said, wrapping her in his arms and kissing the top of her head. "You don't need to worry about any of that. He loves you, I know, believe me. I saw it in his eyes. All he ever had eyes for were you. He'll see how stupid he's being, and then he'll come and rescue you. You'll live happily ever after."

Rory scoffed and sniffled, pulling away. "What if he doesn't?"

"Then he's an ass, and he doesn't deserve you. You're strong, you can make it. And I know Lorelai will help in any way she can," Logan added, "and worse comes to worse, you've still got me, Ace."

"But we can't…"

"As a friend," he stated. He cocked his head to the side and tried to lock onto her lowered gaze. "That alright? We can be friends still, right?"

Rory smiled and nodded, sniffling again. "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks, Logan."

"No problem."

With another hug and kiss atop the head, Logan bid Rory farewell and headed toward his car. Rory smiled toward the night sky as she made to climb in her own car. Someone up there was either toying horribly with her emotions, or sending her signs that it would all work out in the end.

* * *

**AN**: Okay, this chapter went a little better than the last. I tend to jump ahead of myself, though. I know this is totally bipolar of the characters in the series... they would never act this way, but I felt bad that Logan and Rory couldn't be friends. And I completely forgot that Logan and Rory were already engaged in the TV series, so I'm sorry about that. Too late to fix it.

As always, **Read&Review**! and tell me what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Nope, sorry... still don't own them.**

**Author's Note**:

I must really be losing it! omg... I could've sworn I heard something about Rory and Logan being enaged on the show (not as a spoiler, but from dialogue actually on the show), but I must be totally wrong. Sorry guys! Don't throw any tomatoes, please! Wow, I need to get my hearing checked, huh?

While I remember, thanks to the following for adding this story to their favorites list:  
**Ashley1497**, **Asta-gilmore**,** In Love With Narcolepsy Boy**, **sapphirestar820**, **SkitteryIdol**

It really boosts my confidence since this is my first fanfic. So thanks!

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**Chapter 7**

-- A Week Later --

Spring was finally starting to bloom in Stars Hollow. It was a clear and bright day, the sunshine felt like warm little kisses on Rory's arms as she made her way out of Luke's Diner and across the square to Doose's Market. Against Lorelai's wishes, she said she needed some apples and grapes, and she'd stock up the fruit bowl she'd bought last week for their house. Lorelai complained for all of about five minutes till she realized her daughter craved the same strange things she'd craved when she was pregnant with her. Well, strange for the Gilmore Girls, not for normal people.

There was a light breeze today, but otherwise it was warm outside. There were a lot of people around, Rory noted. They waved and greeted her with unusually bright smiles. She wasn't sure whether they were happy she was back in town, or just as freakishly friendly and eccentric as they'd always been.

Doose's Market was packed with the unusal Saturday crowd of housewives looking for the same old stuff to cook the same old thing for their families this week. Rory was reminded briefly of her stint as a Donna Reed dress-a-like, when she'd had her first fight with Dean and they'd broken up. She'd dressed up in a 1950's get-up and cooked him dinner as a way of making up for the stupid argument.

Rory let out a laugh. It was then that she noticed several pairs of eyes on her. She ducked her head and made her way over to the fruits section. Miss Patty was there doing her usual sampling of all the fruits and vegetables. Once her eyes landed on Rory, they widened and she dropped the orange she'd been holding.

"Rory, dear," she exclaimed excitedly, "I'm so happy to see you."

Rory nodded with a small, uneasy grin. She went on gathering some apples and grapes in her basket.

"So," Miss Patty continued with an over exaggerated sigh, "how's life treating you? Is there anyone special in your life?"

Rory paused for a moment to consider this. Miss Patty was acting stranger than usual, but then again, the whole town was stranger than usual. Perhaps there was something in the water supply. Rory made a mental note to buy several bottles of water before she put her thoughts back on Miss Patty and shook her head.

"No, not really."

"Are you sure?" Miss Patty asked, alarmed. "What about that blonde fellow?"

"Logan? Oh, we're just friends."

"Really?" Miss Patty seemed a little disappointed.

Rory looked up then. "Wait a minute, how do you know about Logan?"

"Oh, Lorelai was telling me about him," Miss Patty lied.

"Why would she be telling you about Logan? She doesn't even like him," Rory said with a frown.

"I saw him around town?" Miss Patty tried.

Realization dawned on Rory. Her eyes grew wide and she pointed her finger directly at Miss Patty. "Who else knows?" she demanded.

"Knows what?"

"That Logan proposed to me," Rory yelled, gaining the attention of several nosy housewives. Apparently, Stars Hollow hadn't been so abandoned the night Logan had cornered Rory and proposed to her. Rory could only wonder how long the rumor of her engagement had been going around.

Miss Patty looked like a child scolded. "Rory, dear, I swear I didn't tell anyone. I saw it with my own two eyes, but so did Kirk, Taylor, Ben, and Laura. Babette might've been out with Morry, but I'm not sure if they saw you or not."

Rory sighed frustratedly and walked off to the cashier to pay. She noticed the blonde-haired, brown-eyed young woman in front of her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Clara," she greeted as the teen turned around.

"Oh," Clara replied, "hi Rory." She turned back around to finish paying, obviously trying to avoid conversing with Rory.

Rory frowned. Clara and her had always gotten along, even when she and Dean weren't dating anymore. So why now, was Clara giving her the cold shoulder? Had she heard the rumor that Rory was getting engaged to Logan? She had been awfully excited at the prospect of Rory and Dean getting back together, and possibly gaining Rory as a sister-in-law.

"Clara, is something wrong?" Rory asked.

Clara turned back around and shook her head. "No, everything's fine." She grabbed the bag of groceries she'd fetched for Mrs. Forrester and headed out of the store.

Rory hurried and paid for the apples and grapes. She grabbed the plastic bag and hurried after Clara. The blonde teen was half way across the square when Rory caught sight of her. She rushed across the street and through the gazebo before she decided to reach out and tap Clara's shoulder again.

Clara whipped around, surprised. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of irritation, "What now, Rory?"

"Those rumors aren't true," Rory spit out. She was a little out of breath from jogging to catch up with Clara.

Clara sent her a confused look.

"The rumors about me and Logan, they aren't true."

"Who's Logan?" Clara asked.

"The guy that I was talking to here last week. He's Logan," Rory explained. "The rumors about me getting engaged to him aren't true."

"Okay," Clara said slowly, unsure of why Rory was explaining this to her.

"Wait, isn't that why you're mad at me?" Rory asked.

Clara shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at all."

"Then why won't you talk to me?"

Clara glanced behind her, seeing the tall figure of her brother standing on the street corner at the other end of the square. Obviously, Dean was back in town, and he'd thought his younger sister had gotten lost on her way home from the market. He'd come to look for her, and Clara kicked herself mentally. She knew she shouldn't have stopped to talk to that cute boy from English class.

Rory followed Clara's gaze and her heart lept to her throat.

"I'm not allowed to talk to you anymore, Rory," Clara said, turning back around to face her.

"Because Dean said so?" Rory asked, a bit incredulous. She had half a mind to ask Clara if she knew exactly what Dean had done to her. How he pulled at her heartstrings and teased her with something he knew he wouldn't be able to give her - love. '_Like you did to him_,' a voice taunted from the inside. And it was right, she'd used him in the same way he'd used her. Is that why it hurt so much? Because she felt guilty?

"No," Clara replied with a hint of benevolence. "Mom doesn't think it's a good idea for me to talk to you anymore. At least not while Dean's staying in town."

"He's staying?"

"Just until he can save some money up for a place of his own." Clara glanced back at Dean. If it was possible, his face was redder than the first time she'd looked back.

"I thought he had his own place in Hartford?"

"He shared it with that girl he was seeing," Clara explained. She felt a bit guilty having set Rory up like that. Then again, Rory had said that her and Dean had made amends, and she had something important to tell him. She added, "He came back home last week after dumping her."

Rory's jaw fell open in a moment of shock. Last week. Dean _had_ come after her. Tears began to pool in her eyes, and she chanced a glance at the tall figure across the square. His jaw seemed set in anger, and a look of pain was mirrored in his eyes. '_He must have seen or heard about Logan and me_,' Rory thought sadly.

"I better go, Rory," Clara said. She turned and headed in the direction Dean was waiting.

"Thanks, Clara," Rory called after her after a moment.

* * *

**AN**: Again, sorry about the Rory/Logan thing! Some of you left me reviews about it, and I must've heard wrong. Sorry. On another note, I hope you liked this chapter. I was half-asleep when I wrote it. As always, **Read&Review**! 


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: Believe me, if I could own these characters, especially Dean, I would.

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**Chapter 8**

-- Back at the House --

"Mom," called Rory as she pushed open the front door and entered the house. She'd seen Lorelai's car out in the drive, so she figured that her mother had cut her visit at Luke's a little shorter than usual. "Mom?"

Lorelai appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "I'm right here," she said, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

Rory frowned and followed Lorelai back into the kitchen. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the pots on the stove with the turned on burners underneath them. "Are you cooking?" she asked in mock aghast.

Lorelai rolled her eyes at Rory's shock. "Haha, funny. Just remember that the next time you go hungry." She watched Rory set up the bowl of fruit in the center of the kitchen table, a smile tugging at her lips. "Luke did this. I invited April over for dinner weeks ago, to get a better feel of my future stepdaughter. You know, I want to be the cool stepmom. Not at all like Cinderella's. I bet Luke would withhold my coffee if I made his daughter clean the chimney."

"So if Luke would've withheld your coffee, I wouldn't have had to clean the chimney?" Rory joked. She finished setting up the fruit bowl and looked up at Lorelai for the first time. "What?" she asked, seeing the smile on her mother's face.

"Like mother, like daughter," Lorelai said.

"What, the coffee? Mom, you should know by now that I am addicted to coffee because of you," Rory replied, heading to her room. "You know, when you and Luke have kids, I bet he'll keep that good stuff away from you. He won't want another coffee-addicted, mini Lorelai running around this house."

"What makes you say that?" Lorelai asked. She appeared in the doorway to Rory's room and leaned against the frame. "You turned out great, Kid. You're smart, beautiful, and independent. Stubborn as hell, too," she said it with a smile.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Thanks mom."

"Besides, I wasn't talking about the coffee. I was talking about the fruit."

"The fruit?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said, walking into the room and sitting on the bed. "I used to crave apples when I was pregnant with you. There was the occasional grapefruit, too."

"Really?" Rory asked, sitting on the other side of the bed and leaning against the headboard.

"Yup. Of course there was still the pizza and ice cream," she smiled over at Rory and leaned back to lay next to her.

Silence fell around them. It was deafening, and seemed to last forever. There was just some sort of comfort they both held in the other's presence, like the world would be okay, as long as Rory had her mom there to back her up. She enjoyed the silence, but the events from earlier that day, when she'd confronted Clara, seemed to settle in on her in the quiet. She then realized that she hadn't told Lorelai about the proposal.

"Mom, I have to tell you something," Rory said.

"Shh," Lorelai replied.

"What?" Rory asked, glancing over to see Lorelai's eyes squeezed shut. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to communicate with Luke. He went to pick April up in Woodbridge, and we're out of napkins."

Rory rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the ceiling. "Logan proposed to me."

"I know. Babette came over earlier to congratulate me on the handsome fella my daughter was getting hitched to."

"This town sucks. People can't keep anything to themselves," Rory groused.

"That's exactly why I moved here."

"You moved here because people can't keep things to themselves?"

"Yep. I saw Luke and just wanted those hands to wander all over my…"

"Mom!" Rory pulled a pillow over her head in disgust as Lorelai laughed.

There was a long pause before Lorelai asked, "Have you told him about the baby yet?"

Thinking her mother was referring to Dean, Rory shook her head. "No, I went to his apartment to tell him, but he was having an argument with his girlfriend, and I kind of left without telling him."

"Wait a minute! He proposed to you after you saw him with his new girlfriend? What the hell? Some slut dumps him and he decides to move it right back to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked, confused.

Lorelai was just as confused. "What am I talking about? Logan, who else?"

Rory shook her head. "Logan's not the father, Dean is," she said quietly.

* * *

**AN**: Okay, sorry that this chapter was so short. It's only really some 'filler' until I finish with the next chapter. Hey, it was either this or nothing, right? **Read&Review**!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I've run out of different ways to say I don't own them...

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"Dean?" Lorelai repeated. She hadn't even realized Dean was back in the equation anymore. "Dean Forrester?"

Rory nodded.

"How - when - where -"

"I ran into him in Hartford a few weeks ago. It was during that storm," Rory explained.

"Well, young lady, I'm never letting you out in a storm again."

"Mom," Rory warned. This wasn't a joking matter. This was serious, more so than anything else that had happened in her short life.

"Okay," Lorelai said, sitting up and holding her hands up in defense. "So… you tried to tell Dean, but you chickened out?"

"No, I went to tell Dean everything, but he was having a fight with his girlfriend. I left and came back here to Stars Hollow, and I ran into Logan. He confessed his undying love to me across from Luke's -"

"Great place, that Luke's, huh?" Lorelai interrupted, a dazed look on her face. Noting the long pause in her daughter's explanation, she chanced a glance in Rory's direction. Seeing the 'shut-up-now' look, Lorelai closed her mouth and mimed pulling a zipper across her lips.

"Logan proposed to me - I said no by the way - and I believe Dean either saw it or heard it from someone in the town," Rory said. She sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands. "Mom, I ran into Clara today and she told me Dean came home for a while. Said he broke it off with that girl and he's staying in Stars Hollow."

"You have to tell him, Rory," Lorelai said.

"He won't even look at me. I saw him when I was talking to Clara and he looked angry."

"You have to, kiddo; it's only right."

Rory sighed and pulled the pillow over her face again. She never would have guessed her college years would be so mirrored to her high school years - debating whether or not to tell Dean something, afraid he'd get mad and never speak to her again; worrying about school and the paper; driving to and from Hartford every morning. Her life was becoming an old rerun you watched on Nick Nite.

"Listen," Lorelai said, getting off the bed and patting Rory on the leg. "You look tired, and my jedi mind tricks aren't achieving their goal of reaching Luke, and we still need napkins. So, you stay here and make sure the house doesn't burn down, and I'll go fetch some napkins from the market."

"Alright," Rory agreed.

Lorelai gave a small smile, though Rory couldn't see this because the pillow was still over her head. She left Rory's room, grabbed her coat and purse from the foyer, and left for Doose's Market.

---------------------------------------------

Hundreds of thoughts raced through Lorelai's head. She had had enough stress with her and Luke's mysterious, no-date-yet wedding. Then April, Luke's 12 year old daughter, came into the picture. She thought the good old guy up there had spared her one when the fall out she'd had with Rory ended, and Rory decided to return to Yale. However, it wasn't more than two months later, and Rory was pregnant. With Dean's baby.

Dean Forrester. When had he come back into the picture? Lorelai was surprised. Not because it was Dean, but because Rory hadn't told her. She had always had an open relationship with her daughter; one where they shared thoughts, feelings, and experiences - no questions asked, no jokes made. Well, okay, jokes. Still, it bothered Lorelai that her and Rory's relationship had been severed so horribly that Rory wasn't confiding in her anymore.

'_Then again, she didn't tell me the first time it happened_,' Lorelai thought to herself, that fateful night of the Dragonfly's Grand Opening coming so clearly into view. It had been a life-changing night for her - she'd realized that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Luke - and a life-changing night for Rory - she'd slept with her first true love, destroyed a marriage, and possibly set in sync the events that led to the here and now.

Lorelai couldn't help but feel horrible. She'd set a bad example for Rory when it came to love. She, herself, had always had problems committing to one man, one relationship. Since she was sixteen, she had had numerous boyfriends, and at least 3 fiancee's - or at least Chris was close to becoming one at one point, and if not him, then Jason. She had painted this picture in Rory's head that it was okay for it to just be the two of them; Gilmore Girls to the end. However, by the time Lorelai realized her mistake, it was all too late. Rory had broken two boys' hearts, and was moving in on a third. Another trait passed along in the Gilmore bloodline.

Lorelai's thoughts came to a hault as she entered Doose's. Napkins; she needed napkins. There weren't too many people left in the market - it was getting late, and the housewives had gone home to cook their families dinner, and possibly discuss the Town Princess' outburst at Miss Patty from earlier that day. Still, even if the market would've been full of people, Lorelai's eyes would've found their way over to the tall, dark-haired man on the other side of the store. After all, Dean was possibly the tallest person in Stars Hollow - at least a head above everyone else.

Lorelai quickly averted her eyes and ducked down the aisle with the paper plates and plastic silverware. She grabbed a package of napkins, and chanced a glance over the shelf to where Dean had been moments before. He was gone, at least from that particular spot. Lorelai sighed, still not sure how she felt about Rory being pregnant with Dean's child.

She'd always liked Dean. He had been her favorite of all of Rory's boyfriends - even out of the ones that were just friends. There was this simplistic comfort about him. He understood her's and Rory's bits, and went along willingly with all of them. He was always willing to do the chores and help out around the house or at the Inn, even when it didn't pay. He could jump into one of Rory and Lorelai's witty conversations and know exactly what they're talking about. He never complained about Rory's requests to go to Friday Night Dinner, or wear white gloves and coattails for Rory's Debutante Ball, or attend the silly dances at Rory's prep school. The guy, as bad a rep as he'd received when he first moved to Stars Hollow and 'corrupted' the Town Princess, and then cheated on his wife with her four years later, was really not that bad a guy. He'd done everything everyone had ever asked of him, and would willingly do more. '_Especially to make Rory happy_,' that inside voice chirped up, '_because he loves her_.'

As Lorelai made her way up to the register, she made the final decision that she liked Dean. Sure, he had cheated on his wife, but Lindsay wasn't Rory, and she never could be. No, Dean had eyes for Rory, and Rory only. That is what made Lorelai hate him so much in the beginning - she could see how much he loved her daughter - and it was the same thing that had her pity him - she knew Rory would never get up the courage to tell him she loved him too, or that he would be a father in eight months.

There was only one checkout line opened, but then again, the store was practically empty. While the man in front of her checked out, Lorelai found herself searching for Dean once more. Not seeing his tall figure near the front of the store by the glass window, she turned around to see if he was by the frozen foods. Of course, she got a scare when she found him right behind her in line. She blinked her eyes rapidly, pressing her palm against her heart, a nervous smile breaking her expression.

"You scared me," she managed to say, trying to laugh it off.

Dean offered a small, barely visible, apologetic smile, but said nothing. He focused his attention, instead, on the man ahead of Lorelai and the cashier.

"So, haven't seen you in a while," Lorelai replied. She scolded herself mentally, knowing exactly where this topic of small talk would lead. And she wasn't sure Rory wanted her to spill the beans to Dean.

Dean turned his attention back to Lorelai. He knew he had to reply, as much as he didn't want to. It hurt too much - to talk to the mother of the girl you dreamed about every night; the mother who loved you, but her daughter didn't. Lorelai, however, would ramble on awkwardly until he said something. And then they'd both go on their ways.

"I've been living in Hartford for a while," was his simple reply.

"Really?"

The man ahead of Lorelai had paid and was moving along out of the store. Lorelai handed the cashier the package of napkins. She caught Dean's eye and added, "Forgot to tell Rory to get them."

Dean just nodded. Even hearing Rory's name, spoken so casually, felt like a million shards of glass ripping through his flesh.

Lorelai handed over a five dollar bill and took the plastic bag the napkins had been placed in. As she took the change and receipt, she stepped aside. As awkward and short as her conversation with Dean was, her mouth refused to let her stop talking and walk away from him. "Rory said she saw you earlier."

Dean let out a small sigh. Something told him he couldn't escape from Lorelai, even if he'd been ahead of her. "Yeah," he said, "Mom sent Clara for dinner stuff, but Clara forgot a couple things." Dean paid for his items and walked out of the store with Lorelai.

"She said you looked angry," Lorelai said bluntly, looking him straight in the face to gauge his reaction.

He blinked slowly, as though shutting his eyes would make Lorelai disappear. Then, he nodded his head slowly and looked squarely back at Lorelai. "Yeah, you could say I was angry," he answered before tearing his eyes away from hers. She and Rory had the same cool blue eyes.

"At Clara or Rory?"

"A little frank, aren't we, Lorelai?" Dean asked as they crossed the street and headed through the town square.

"I'm just asking why I have a daugter at home, despaired at the thought of you never speaking to her again."

"Why should she care about me? You know, everytime I give into her, let my guard down, she rips my heart out," Dean retorted, a hint of anger tracing his tone. "I can't do that anymore, Lorelai. I can't wait for Rory to love me back."

"For starters, you are the one who ripped her heart out," Lorelai stated. "You were seeing another girl, andcheated on herwith Rory… again."

Dean stopped and stared incredulously at Lorelai. "She told you that? That we… you know?" he asked, waving his hands around, not able to voice that actual word.

Lorelai shook her head. "No," she said, "Rory didn't have to tell me. She stopped seeing Logan long before she ran into you, Dean."

"He proposed to her - "

"But you didn't wait for her reaction, did you?"

Dean shook his head and muttered, "She belongs with him, Lorelai, in that world. I don't belong there with her."

"You're wrong. Rory was never part of that world, Dean. She was just a - tourist - you could say," Lorelai replied with a grin. After a moment, she reached out and patted Dean's arm. "Just so you know, she told Logan no. She said she loved someone else… you."

Dean didn't know what to say. He just stared at Lorelai's hand on his arm.

With one final pat, Lorelai added softly, so only Dean could hear, "She showed up last week to tell you that. And to tell you that you were going to be a father." Without waiting for his reaction or a reply, she turned on her heel and headed back to her house.

* * *

**AN**: How was that? A little long, huh? I hope you liked it... tell me if you did by leaving a **Review**!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: After 9 chapters, do you really think that ownership of the characters and series changed from the WB and AMP to me? I wish...

* * *

**Chapter 10**

By the time Lorelai had arrived back at the house, Luke was already there with April. Rory was still in her bedroom, the door slightly ajar. April had gone in and was sitting on the bed, staring at all the books Rory had scattered about. The two of them seemed to be getting along very well, discussing the various titles April's eyes wandered over. And Luke seemed estatic that they were getting along. He nearly knocked Lorelai over when she came through the back door.

"What was that for?" Lorelai asked as they pulled apart from the kiss.

Luke smiled stupidly and pointed towards Rory's bedroom. "April and Rory," he said, his voice giddy, "They're discussing some strange Russian guy that I've never heard of before. Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah, wonderful."

"I mean," Luke continued rambling as he continued cooking dinner, "we walked in and Rory explained you'd left for plates or something - "

"Napkins."

" - and she looked at April and asked if she liked reading." Luke looked over to Lorelai then and asked, "Did you tell her April liked reading?" Without waiting for a reply from his fiancee, he continued with his exciting ramblings, "Well, then April was like, 'Yeah,' and Rory was asking her who her favorites were, and they got caught up talking about some foreign guy who's name I can't spell."

"Exhilarating," Lorelai said. She headed into the foyer and hung her coat in the closet.

Luke appeared then, holding a wooden spoon in one hand and wiping the other on the dish towel hanging from his pocket. "Something wrong?" he asked, noting the strange look on Lorelai's face.

Lorelai forced a smile and shook her head. "No," she said. She entered the living room and plopped down on the couch. She was seriously having regret issues about spilling the beans to Dean.

"Lorelai, aren't you happy they're getting along?"

"I'm happy Luke," Lorelai added, seeing the deflated look on Luke's face, "Really, I am."

"Lorelai…"

"Luke, I like April. There was never any question of me liking her," Lorelai stated, standing and moving closer to Luke.

"Than what's the problem Lorelai?" Luke asked, resting his hands on her arms and looking her directly in the eyes.

"I should've let you get the napkins," Lorelai muttered. It was her last attempt at ignoring the regret in her gut.

"What?"

Lorelai sighed and wrung out her hands, as though there was unwanted water or dirt on them. She turned her back on Luke, and her fingers fell around the familiar engagement ring he had given her, her eyes hypnotized by the beauty of such a small thing.

Luke was patient, waiting for the silence to break.

"I told Dean that Rory's pregnant," Lorelai said quietly.

The guilt in Lorelai's gut seemed to multiply as the realization hit her. She'd betrayed Rory; her daughter, her best friend.

"Rory's what?" Luke asked, anger lacing into his tone.

However, what caught Lorelai's eyes as she turned back around to face Luke, was the figure standing in the doorway to Rory's room. Her eyes were dark, and even at a distance, Lorelai could see the tears. Rory shook her head and dashed inside of her room, moments later rushing through the kitchen and slamming the back door shut behind her.

Lorelai sighed heavily. And here comes another rift between the great Gilmores.

--------------------------------

Rory didn't know where she was going. She just knew that she had to get out of that house. Part of her was furious with Lorelai. How could she do that? How could she just go up to Dean and tell him that he was going to be a father? That wasn't Lorelai's place, that was Rory's. It was Rory's responsibility to tell Dean how she felt and what was happening to her… not Lorelai's.

Rory came to a stop at a red light, the town square of Stars Hollow laying out in front of her.

Then again, part of her was glad that Lorelai had told Dean. Rory wasn't sure she would've even gotten the chance. Even if Dean had still talked to her, she wasn't sure she would've had the courage to tell him. It just felt like she was screwing up his life plans and his future - the one he had decided she didn't belong in anymore. And it hurt. It felt like it had last year, when he'd told her he didn't belong in her world anymore.

Her emotions were getting the better of her. She cursed pregnancy and high emotional levels.

For a moment, she felt pure and utter hatred toward her grandparents. Things had started to go so perfect between her and Dean, and they had messed it all up with their party and their alumni friends and sons. They had said it too - Rory and Dean were from different worlds; they didn't belong together.

In the next moment, however, she became angry with herself. _She_ had messed it up. It was her fault. She had let Dean leave that party; she didn't stop him or call out. She could've - she should have. But she had been confused, and the logical part of her had long since sided with her grandparents about whom she should end up with - a prestigious, blue-blood young man with several business degrees, attending medical school and law school at the same time. She scoffed at the thought. Even Logan, heir to the Huntzberger paper dynasty, hadn't made so great an impression on her grandparents. He had let her drop out of Yale, took her out drinking and partying every night, let her steal a yacht, and cheated on her with his sister's bridal party that week during Thanksgiving when they'd been broken up.

Rory managed a chuckle through her tears. Through all of that, and she'd become friends with the Life & Death Brigadier. The light above Rory turned green, but she didn't notice. The streets of Stars Hollow were usually empty of cars at night. People here seemed to prefer walking in the dark.

"We need to talk," came the voice from nowhere.

Rory nearly jumped out of her skin and turned to face the man she'd first fallen in love with. She placed her hand to her heart and shook her head. "Dean?"

Dean gave a small chuckle. "You Gilmores scare easily."

Rory lifted her brow and replied, "Well, it's dark and you just came out of nowhere."

"Sorry," Dean apologized, "But I saw your car, and I think we need to talk."

Rory nodded, clearly hearing her mother's words in her head again. "My mom told you, I know," she said.

Dean glanced around to make sure no one was close by to hear. He already felt a little anxious at the thought of just discussing the subject with Rory. "Not here," he said quietly.

Again Rory nodded. "Climb in."

Dean took one last look at several of the figures walking around the town square before he climbed in the car. Silence fell among the two as Rory pulled off down the street and out of Stars Hollow.

* * *

**AN**: Ah, glad that's done. Again, you're lucky that I managed to get this chapter out - I was half asleep because it was 1:20 in the morning. Hope it meets your expectations... I'm working on the next part, and it's getting to be a pain. I believe I lost my muse... hopefully I'll find it Thursday after I watch Supernatural... seeing Jared always seems to spark the writing bug in me :) . As always, **Read&Review**!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: Anybody got anymore creative ways to say "I don't own them?"

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"I'm going to kill him," Luke fumed.

"Calm down," Lorelai said.

Still overwhelmed at the thought of betraying Rory - _again_ - Lorelai somehow managed to get the household under control. She had turned to stove off, so nothing exploded while she sent Luke upstairs to their bedroom to rant. She had allowed April to help herself to any of Rory's books, and even left the young girl her laptop to roam the internet in search of images of the giant African, cave-dwelling arachnid she had mentioned once before.

"How can you say that?" Luke asked in disbelief. "He slept with Rory, Lorelai, and got her pregnant!"

"Don't you think I already know that?" Lorelai asked. "That's not what bothers me."

"Well it bothers me!"

Lorelai felt a sting of pride that Luke considered himself the male protector of Rory's safety. Almost like a father figure. However, it wasn't right for Luke to be mad at Dean. Rory's pregnancy was as much her own fault as it was Dean's. After all, Lorelai had learned the hard way that it takes two people to conceive a child, much to her parents' dismay.

"You can't blame it all on Dean, Luke."

"Like hell I can't!"

"Luke Danes," Lorelai said in a dangerous tone, "your twelve year old daughter is downstairs. Do you really want her to hear you acting so irrationally?"

At the mention of April, Luke discontinued his pacing. He stared long and hard at the wall before turning an ashamed face to Lorelai. "I'm sorry," he replied. "There's just something about that boy that I can't stand."

"I know," Lorelai said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head to his chest. "But he loves Rory, Luke. And she loves him. I can see it in their eyes when they talk about each other. I never understood why they each held that look until the night you kissed me, when we had our first test run of the Dragonfly. I was looking in the mirror thinking of you, and I got the same look in my eyes."

After a long pause, Luke asked, "So, they really love each other?"

"They have to… something keeps drawing them back together, and I know my daughter isn't a magnet," Lorelai retorted, smiling. "Then again, I can't rule out the one she ate when she was three."

Luke rolled his eyes with a grin.

-------------------------------------------

Rory and Dean sat in a wooded clearing. They had come here once before, when they'd been looking for a place to steal away to, shortly after Dean and Lindsay's divorce. Neither of them said anything for a while. They both were at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry," Rory finally whispered. It was all she could think of.

"For what?" Dean asked.

"Not telling you sooner."

His heart skipped a beat. Deep down he knew Lorelai had been telling him the truth. She wouldn't lie about something that hit so close to home for her like that. But part of him refused to believe that this could happen. This wasn't supposed to be the way it happened. "So, you're really pregnant?"

Rory nodded.

"And it's mine?"

Another nod.

"You're sure?"

Rory now had tears in her eyes. "Dean," she said, turning to look at him, "I wouldn't tell you otherwise if I wasn't."

"What about that blonde guy?" Dean asked. He had tried and failed to erase that image from his mind… like he had tried and failed to fall out of love with the woman sitting next to him. "I saw you that night in the square, and he was on his knee - "

"I don't love Logan," Rory stated firmly, reaching her hand out to grab his, and looking him directly in the eyes. "I love you."

It was that simple phrase - those three tiny words with monumental impact - that had them both seeing pools in front of their eyes.

"I am so sorry, Dean," Rory sobbed, squeezing his hand with hers. "I am so sorry that it took me this long to finally realize it. But there is not a single day that I can ever go through without thinking of you. Every good, decent relationship I get in I mess up because I can't seem to stop comparing my boyfriends to you. You loved me with all your heart, and you would go to the most extreme lengths to make me happy. You risked others' happiness and bliss to be with me, and I smacked you in the face. And I'm so sorry. I can't say that enough. I can't keep going on feeling that twinge of guilt knowing that I pushed you away when you were the only person I ever truly loved."

Dean took in the feel of the words as her hand squeezed his again. Shivers rose up his arms, and he closed his eyes, letting go the tears that had pooled there. His heart ached, but with delight. He couldn't believe that this moment was even happening. There was just something so true - raw and real - with the way she spoke the words.

"Please don't hate me," Rory begged, moving her tear-streaked face closer to him, seeking the solace only he could offer her.

"I don't hate you, Rory," Dean said, as Rory's head rested against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her as close to him as possible with the arm rest between them still. "I could never hate you."

They sat there like that for a moment, before Rory's tears had dried and her sobs had grown silent. Dean looked down in her face and smiled. "I love you, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," he said quietly, as though it was a secret only they shared. He kissed her softly and longingly, taking in the taste of her lips on his.

"I love you, too, Dean Forrester," Rory replied as they parted their kiss.

"Rory, we need to talk," Dean said finally.

Rory sat back in her seat and turned to face him. He looked somewhat apprehensive about something, but Rory wasn't sure what. She had made it as clear as possible that she loved him. There was no other way she could verbally express her feelings for him.

"You and this - Logan, guy - you're not getting married?"

Rory shook her head. "No," she said and then smiled, "I told him I loved you, and he wished us the best as a couple."

"Are you sure? Isn't he the same guy that you were with at your grandparents' party last year when we broke up?"

"Yes, and he feels really bad about that."

Dean was a little bit in disbelief at that statement. From the looks of the man who'd proposed to Rory, he didn't seem like the type to feel bad for breaking up anyone to Dean.

"We used to date," Rory explained, "after you and I broke up. But it wasn't the same. It was much more like a friendship rather than a dating relationship. He never treated me fairly either. We were on again, off again, and he'd sleep with his sister's entire bridal party. I mean, he's not a bad guy," she said, seeing Dean's anger beginning to boil, "He's just not you."

Dean scoffed with a grin, "Yeah, then what do you call what I did to Lindsay?"

Rory laughed a little uneasily. "Alright, so you cheated on Lindsay with me - "

" - and Sarah," Dean added.

" - and Sarah," Rory echoed. "But you would have never cheated on me. You loved me, and I feel so terrible looking back on it now. But that night I ran into you in the storm, everything just seemed to stop. There's no one else in the world that makes me feel the way you make me feel, Dean. And I know, because I've looked."

Dean's face had turned a light shade of red and he shook his head. "You don't have to feel terrible for any of that," he replied. "We were young. We weren't supposed to meet the person we'd want to spend the rest of our life with. Besides," he added, cradling her cheek in his hand, "things hadn't been going that well with us anyway. We were on two different pages."

"I don't want us to be," Rory rushed on. "I want you in my life again, Dean."

"And I want you in mine," Dean replied with no hurry. "And I want to be there for the baby."

A few happy tears fell down Rory's cheeks. "Really?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, of course." He leaned forward and kissed Rory once more.

When they pulled apart, Rory glanced at the clock. They'd been gone for an hour now. Rory had hoped it would be later, possibly passed Lorelai's bedtime so she wouldn't have to get into another yelling match like the ones they'd been having so frequently through the year. She hated fighting with her mom. Still, she and Dean had made their peace, and now it was time to go home.

"It's late," Dean said, reading her mind.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's go home."

Dean smiled and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick kiss as she pulled her car onto the road leading back to Stars Hollow.

* * *

**AN**: Gosh, I'm so sorry you guys! I tried posting this yesterday morning, but I wasn't home, and when I did find a computer to use, the damn thing crashed! Argh, I hate it when they do that. Usually I just use my laptop. Anyway, I'm not very proud of this chapter - I don't know why - and perhaps the computer crashing was a sign. Either way, I don't want this story to drag out much longer - I'm losing interest in getting from point A to point B (I really only do one-shots with no more than 3,000 words, so this one's a stretch... ha) - and I moved Dean and Rory forgiving each other a little fast, quick, and clean... which really wouldn't happen in the series. Still, I'm determined to finish this story, so don't worry. As a side note, I was so happy seeing Jared's face Thursday! Gotta love that man! I found my muse again (and I really think it wasn't lost, just bored with the way this chapter went... sheesh). Well, tell me what you think of this chapter so I know whether my muse is crazy or what... **Read**&**Review**! 


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: Sadly, I still don't own anything... not even Dean (or Jared for that matter)--_snaps fingers in disappointment_--. Everything, including the objects in the baby box, belong to the creative and talented mind of ASP and is copyrigthed to the WB Network Television Company (until it changes to The CW... darn).

* * *

**Chapter 12**

"What are you going to do now?" Dean asked as he climbed out of the car and leaned through the open window.

"I don't know," Rory shrugged. She was still uncertain of her feelings toward her mother right now. Although, deep down she knew that Lorelai had only done it so her and Dean could be together. Or at least that's what she told herself.

"Don't be mad at her, Rory," Dean replied knowingly. "She knows she messed up. But she's your mom. She's Lorelai," he added with a grin.

"I know," Rory said.

The porch light on the Forrester's house came on, signaling that one, if not both, of Dean's parents knew he was awake and knew he was outside with Rory. Rory half-believed the curtains in the window beside the door would move to reveal Mrs. Forrester's face spying on them. She'd never really trusted Rory after Dean's divorce.

Dean seemed to have noticed the extra light coming from behind him, for his head was turned toward the door. Rory wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was.

Apparently not.

"I'd better get inside so they can turn the alarm on," Dean said, turning back to face her.

"I forgot they had an alarm," Rory noted.

"Like they need one," Dean snorted. "Who's going to break into a house here in Stars Hollow? The entire town has eyes constantly following everyone." He shivered and Rory chuckled.

"That's true," she said. After their laughs had abated, she nodded her head at the Forrester's house, an anxious look on her face. "Are you going to tell them about the baby?"

Dean sighed, considering the option. He hadn't really thought about telling anyone about the baby as he and Rory had driven back to Stars Hollow. His mind was a little more preoccupied with the fact that Rory had come back into his life. And it finally seemed like it was for good this time. "No," he said with a shake of his head. He watched all the anxiety fall from Rory's face before adding, "I'd rather tell them about us, and then have us tell them about the baby."

The color fled Rory's face and she looked back over to him. "Us?" she asked. But it wasn't from shock of the definition - that they were a couple again. It was from shock of the statement - she would have to face the Forresters.

"Yup, us," Dean repeated, and Rory wasn't sure whether the grin on his face was formed in encouragement or humor for her fear of facing his parents and informing them that she'd ruined their son's life. Again.

"Don't worry, Rory," Dean supplied. He lowered his voice a bit, "I don't hold their opinions too high on my priority list. I just have nowhere else to go while I save up money."

"My house," the words fell out automatically. Rory hadn't meant them at all. It was too early for her and Dean to be moving in together. Neither of them had enough money to live on their own, let alone support each other and then a baby. Besides, Rory wasn't too sure how Luke would react to the news of her and Dean's baby, or whether he'd even consider letting Dean live in the house with them.

This time, Dean read Rory's mind.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Rore," he said with a frown. "Luke doesn't like me too much, and I doubt Lorelai will kick her fiancee out just to appease you."

"You don't know Lorelai very well then," Rory joked. Lorelai would give anything to have Rory not be mad at her.

Dean laughed and Rory melted. "Right, well," he said, managing to lean across the passenger seat and plant a kiss on Rory's lips, "Goodnight."

"'Night," Rory replied sweetly. She watched him walk up the steps of the porch and enter through the threshold, the door shutting behind him. She sighed and headed back to her, where she would have to face her mom.

------------------------------------

Dinner had been over for a while. Rory could tell as she entered the kitchen through the back door, seeing the entire place swiped clean of dirty dishes and leftover food, and the lights off. She made a bee-line for her room, grateful at the thought of her mother and Luke asleep upstairs, and her not having to deal with facing Lorelai after she'd stormed off into the night.

Just as she reached her door, the soft glow of a light through the foyer caught the corner of her eye. Rory turned, scolding herself as her legs unwillingly carried her through to the living room. Lorelai was sitting on the couch, a shoe-box in her lap and a bowl of popcorn on the table in front of her. The light Rory had seen was the soft blue glow of the television, which Lorelai had muted so she could roam through the shoe-box.

Lorelai didn't notice Rory enter, which is why she nearly jumped out of her skin when Rory asked, "What's that?"

She looked up at her daughter with a startled look. Rory just laughed and said, "Dean was right, we Gilmores scare easily."

Lorelai cocked an eyebrow. "Dean?" she inquired as though the name was foreign to her.

Rory nodded and sat down on the edge of the couch cushion. '_So I can make a fast getaway_,' she thought to herself with a grim smile before forcing a brighter one and saying to her mother, "Yeah, we talked, Dean and I."

"How'd that go?" Lorelai asked cautiously.

"Well, we decided to stay in each other's lives," Rory said with a hopeful smile. "I'm pretty sure we're getting back together as a couple, and we plan to raise the baby together, but everything else is still a mystery. I mean, I have another year to finish up at Yale, and Dean went back to school, and we both don't have any money right now. We're not sure how serious our relationship will get, though, because we don't want to push ourselves to the breaking point, you know?"

Lorelai let a smile fall across her lips. She was truly happy that Rory had put all the pieces of the puzzle together at last. She was glad to see - or feel, rather - that her daughter was finally happy with the way her life was going. "That's great, hun," she said.

Rory smiled with a nod, then sighed. "Mom, I want to apologize for earlier. I was just upset because it was so easy for you to tell Dean. You just walked up to him in a day and told him, and before I knew about his girlfriend, it had taken me at least a week to even get the courage to tell him. I'm sorry."

Lorelai nodded, tears in her eyes at the thought of coming this close to getting into another fight with her daughter. She leaned over and hugged Rory.

When they pulled apart, Rory's attention fell on the box again. "I repeat, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the old shoe-box.

Lorelai looked down in her own lap. "Oh," she said, another smile stretching across her features, "this is my baby box. I kept all the good things from the year you were born." She began to pull out the items, one by one. There was a walkman with a homemade tape in it ("99 Luftballoons, R.E.M., and the Thompson Twins," Lorelai explained), a magazine with the debating question: who's hotter, Andrew or Emilio, a necklace made of Bubbalicious gum wrappers, a Chunky candybar wrapper, a piece of paper with the writing "John's digits" and several numbers on it, and a jumper made out of Lorelai's favorite Bananarama t-shirt for Rory.

"Aww," Rory said, hlding up the jumper to look at it. She couldn't believe she was ever that small. She smiled again, and placed it back in the box. "I'm going to do one for my baby," she announced. It hit her then, that this situation was real, and that it could work out in the end. She could be happy with a baby; happy with Dean. Before, the thought had seemed a little daunting - she was still in school, her and Dean weren't a couple, she lived in her mother's house again - how could she raise a baby? But now, with everything falling into place, the thought of becoming a mother was filling somehow - complete.

"I think that'd be a great idea, Mr. Ed," Lorelai replied.

* * *

**AN**: First of all, thank you to my reviewers! My muse is crazy, just as I thought. Mustn't depend on that sucker anymore... she (I hope it's a she) ran away to be with Jared on Supernatural... and drool over his half-clothed self. Ha. Now if only we could get him fully unclothed -- _taps fingers together, deep in thought_--... Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have the best readers (though that's expected with Narco, huh? - Narco rules!) For those who are wondering, yes, I will be writing more Narco, and I'm planning on posting some Supernatural one-shots after I complete _Eternal Promise_. And don't worry, I'm going to finish this story before I do anything else.

Which brings me to my next order of business - I know I said that I'm getting bored connecting point A to point B, and I am, but I can't seem to see the light at the end of this tunnel yet - at least not with the path I took with this chapter. Anyway, I thought I'd be able to wrap this story up with another chapter or two, but I can't - it wouldn't bring justice to such an awesome piece (and I say that because it's the longest thing I've ever written and I'm proud of it). So, don't worry, I'm going to keep updating and posting chapter after chapter that falls out of my cluttered head. Whew! -- that was a long author's note. Sheesh. As always, **Read**&**Review**!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: ...darn... still no ownership...

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Luke returned from giving April a ride home. He shot a bit of a flustered look toward Rory, who claimed she was getting tired and headed toward her room. Not soon after closing her own door, she heard Lorelai drag Luke up the stairs to bed. Rory sighed and fell back on her bed, her legs dangling off and her head just below the pillow. She sat and stared up at the ceiling, a wave of sleep pulling her mind away from the present. Funny, she'd lied about getting tired and yet here she was, falling asleep.

-------------------------------

The sharp tap on the window brought Rory rushing back to consciousness. She sat up quickly, nausea over-taking her for a moment. Her eyes settled on the clock on her desk, reading quarter after one in the morning, and then she settled on the figure beyond her curtains on the porch. She frowned, wondering who could possibly be disturbing her at this time of night, but she already knew as she drew back the curtain and pulled up the window.

"What are you doing here, Dean?" she asked as the chill of a late winter breeze passed through her. "It's one in the morning, and about forty degrees outside."

Dean shrugged and kneeled down, so his face was level with hers. "I told my parents about us. We got in a huge fight and I left," he explained. His gaze avoided hers, as though he was ashamed of his parents for not accepting him and Rory.

Rory glanced over at her bedroom door. She knew her mother and Luke wouldn't like what she was about to do, but she was an adult now, and Dean had nowhere else to go. She couldn't leave him out in the cold. She turned back to him and moved aside, motioning him through the window.

"Are you sure?" he asked, also glancing at her door, half-expecting Luke to burst in any minute.

"Yeah," Rory said with a nod. "I'm not going to let the father of my child freeze to death on my front porch. You wouldn't make a cute decoration to the house anyway; you're not a goat."

Dean grinned and shimmied his tall frame through the narrow window. He rested on Rory's bed as she shut and locked the window. "Want me to get a chair?" he asked her.

"What?" Rory asked with a chuckle. "You can't sleep with me but once every year?"

Dean turned crimson. "Not that, I just don't want Luke or your Mom to find us - "

"We're only sharing a bed," Rory said a little pointedly. "If Mom can share a bed with Luke, then I can share a bed with you." She walked over to him and pushed him down against the mattress, pressing a firm kiss to his lips. She pulled the blanket at the foot of her bed over their two forms, and curled up next to him, happy for the warmth and comfort he provided her. Within moments, they were both fast asleep.

--------------------------------------------

The morning sun proved to be a little too bright for Dean's liking. He squinted his eyes through the rays of light streaming in through Rory's window, only to notice her bedroom door slightly ajar. To his horror, he heard Lorelai just beyond the door in the kitchen, humming. Dean rolled his eyes and glanced down at Rory. She was sleeping peacefully - and for some reason he didn't think she'd gotten such good rest in a while - so he kissed the top of her head and slipped out of her grasp. She stirred, but didn't awaken.

Dean realized with much dread how right he was as he entered the kitchen, trying to somewhat flatten the wrinkles his jeans and shirt had acquired overnight. Lorelai was sitting at the kitchen table, cutting - coupons? - and looked up when he entered.

"Hello, sunshine," she said with a bright smile. Dean frowned. "Want some coffee?" she asked, motioning to the pot by the stove. "Luke made it this morning before he left for the diner," she added, as though that made the coffee special… which in the Gilmore House, it did.

Dean nodded and walked over to the pot, pulling a mug from one of the cabinets - an old habit of familiarity - and filling it with the warm, rich, brown beverage. He pulled up a chair across from Lorelai as she continued cutting her coupons. After a moment of her not saying anything, he asked, "Is this the Twilight Zone or something?"

Lorelai looked up, baffled.

"I mean, the first time Rory and I slept together… well, the first time we spent the night together, you freaked and I couldn't come around for a couple weeks. The second time, the entire town had a vendetta out against me, and you pretended to not hate me when you actually did."

"I didn't hate you," Lorelai objected, a little hurt Dean could think such a thing.

"You didn't approve - "

"And I still don't," Lorelai cut in. "But it's not like I've never done it. I admit, big mistake, but you can't turn back time." She snapped her fingers and glared at the coupons. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here cutting these. I'd invent something to cut them for me."

"You could still do that," Dean pointed out, distracted.

Lorelai raised her brow in concurrence. "True, but I can't even touch a coffee pot without it exploding. Hence all the mornings at Luke's all these years."

Dean nodded, his mind still half-distracted. He realized then that that was something Lorelai was immensely skilled at - distracting people from thoughts and places and certain schedules they had to retain. He shook his head and continued with his previous question. "How come you're not upset that I slept with Rory last night?"

"It's not like you did anything," Lorelai replied, not looking up from her task of coupon clipping. "The walls in this house aren't very thick either - perhaps you and Luke can fix that - and I heard you tapping on Rory's window while I was down here getting coffee."

"You eavesdropped on us?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Just the whole 'nowhere else to go' part." She set the scissors down on the table and looked up at Dean, locking her gaze onto his. "My daughter loves you. Now, I've watched her struggle through too many things in the past year - coincidentally the same time she wasn't in contact with you - and she's finally found happiness… with you. If you make her happy, you make me happy. I don't care what the town says, or my parents, or Luke - I only care what Rory thinks and feels and says about you. Got it?"

Dean nodded slowly.

Rory walked in just then, yawning and rubbing her tired eyes. She thought her mind had been playing tricks on her, for she could have sworn she'd heard Dean talking with her mother. Once the sleep was wiped clean for her vision, her eyes settled on Dean and Lorelai sitting at the table. They widened in fear, searching both faces for a sign of the raised white flag.

"Hey there kiddo," Lorelai greeted first.

Dean merely shrugged at the uncertain look Rory cast him before she walked over to the coffee pot to fill her own mug. She walked back over to the table and took a seat, not really able to voice the question she was afraid she already had an answer to. Instead, she focused on the task her mother was doing. "Why are you cutting coupons?"

Lorelai looked up, her concentration being taken away from the papers and scissors in her hands for a second time. '_They want me to cut my fingers off, I swear_,' she thought humorously to herself. "It's for charity," she lied. She knew Rory didn't like her using coupons.

Rory pursed her lips, but didn't object to it. She had to tread lightly around her mother because she wasn't sure whether Lorelai had found her and Dean together or not.

Lorelai seemed to read her silence. Maybe it was a mother thing. "Dean came over this morning and explained the whole living situation. He says his parents kicked him out when he told them about getting back together with you," she lied again. Mentally, she kicked herself for doing it, but it had to be done. She couldn't exactly tell Rory that she'd listened in on their conversation, because she wasn't sure how sensitive Rory could get now that she was carrying a child.

Dean understood and nodded in concurrence to Lorelai's fib, glancing quickly at her before reaching over to grab Rory's hand and give it a squeeze.

Rory smiled and squeezed Dean's hand back before turning to study her mom. Lorelai was watching them with this sort of amiable expression lost on her features. "Mom?" Rory asked.

Lorelai shook her head to clear her thoughts and smiled genuinely at her daughter. "I was just going to tell Dean that he can stay here for a while."

Rory nearly knocked Lorelai over as she scurried out of her chair and over to her mom, wrapping her arms around the woman. Her actions caused laughs to roll out of both Dean and Lorelai's mouths, and she let go of Lorelai and rushed over to Dean to wrap her arms around him.

"Thank you so much, Mom," Rory gushed happily.

Dean nodded and, as soon as he and Rory parted, he leaned down and gave Lorelai a quick hug. "Thanks," he said gratefully.

As they pulled apart, Lorelai caught his eye and said quietly, so Rory couldn't hear, "No, thank you."

* * *

**AN**: I never intended to make Dean's parents so un-understanding... oops, hehe. What's done is done. So, the forever redundant question: how'd you like this chapter? Please, please, please leave me a review - even if it just says 'hi' - although I do like the occasional long review heh :) Just tell me what you think! 


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: ...the redundant "no, I don't own them" still implies. Now, I'm going to go cry in the corner because I still can't have Jared...**

**Author's note**:Thanks for the reviews, you guys! You rock!

**In Love With Narcolepsy Boy**: I'm glad you like my story so much. I check my email everyday, too, just to see if I've gotten a review alert from all of my readers, lol. And I read the short story you wrote on Supernatural - I must say, I liked it a lot. Gave me a real good laugh!

**Asta-gilmore**: Of course I'm going to keep going... I just had a serious writer's block for a day and it freaked me out. Ha. And I know that last chapter was just filler mostly, but between you and me... and all the readers now (lol... especially with this chapter) there's going to be some drama coming up because Rory has to tell the Great Gilmores about Dean and the pregnancy:)

**haydenlover883**: Thanks for loving my rocking story! Lol.

**SkitteryIdol**: You are right on the spot with why Lorelai says "no, thank you" to Dean at the end of the last chapter! Ah, I thought no one would understand that, I'm so glad that you did.

Keep it up with the awesome reviews, you guys! I check 'em religiously, like every single day, to see what you all think of how the story's going.

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**Chapter 14**

Luke was least than pleased to hear about his new housemate. In fact, he stayed in the apartment above the diner for three days before Lorelai finally dragged him back to the house. It wasn't that he didn't like Dean… okay, maybe he didn't like Dean. But what really got under his skin was that the kid had hurt Rory. His beloved Lorelai's sweet, innocent, Rory. In Luke's mind, Rory never brought harm or hurt to anyone - except, occasionally, Lorelai when they'd argue.

The house had become very tense due to the pressure for Dean and Luke to avoid each other. Especially as Spring Break rolled around, and Dean and Rory happened to be home a lot more. Dean had quit his job at Tyler & Son Construction in Hartford to partner with Stars Hollow's resident contractor, Tom. Tom had been in desperate need of a new carpenter, and the pay was better.

Because Rory was on break too, she and Dean had decided to avoid the house as much as possible. Since the weather was gradually getting warmer, they would stay outside, walking around the town or hanging out in Lane and Zach's apartment or taking drives into Hartford.

--------------------------------------

It was near the end of Rory and Dean's Spring Break Vacation when Lorelai received a call from her mother at the inn. She glared daggers at Michel, who had taken the liberty to inform Emily that Lorelai had just walked in the door.

"Hello, mother," Lorelai said with a forced smile and sweet voice.

"Lorelai, darling, I'm so glad to have caught you," came Emily's sickly sweet voice over the line. "I was wondering if you, Luke, and Rory would be able to make Easter dinner this Friday night?"

Lorelai's eyes widened in shock. "Mom, I thought you and Dad had somewhere to go this year for Easter," she tried desperately to think of some excuse to get out of the dinner. She and Rory had managed to escape Friday Night Dinners at the Gilmore Residence, and her mother was trying to weasel them back in.

"Your father's trip was cancelled," came the reply.

"Oh," Lorelai looked around for something, her eyes falling on Sookie entering through the parlor. "Mom, I can't. Sookie's making this gigantic feast for the inn, and the whole town's coming, and we're doing an Easter egg hunt. I can't seem to getaway for Friday." Sookie gave Lorelai an odd look, but Lorelai just mouthed 'Mom,' and Sookie threw her hands up and left for the kitchen.

"You can come late, Lorelai. You usually do anyway."

"I can't, Mom. I made commitments," Lorelai said, trying to sound disappointed at the prospect of missing spending an evening with her parents. On the inside, though, she was smiling.

"Well," came Emily's sigh, "if you can't come to us, perhaps we can come to you."

"What?"

"Sign us up for the dinner and Easter egg hunt, Lorelai."

"But Mom, you don't like Easter eggs," Lorelai said frantically. "You never even let me paint any or boil the eggs. I couldn't even have hard boiled eggs on Easter."

"Oh, nonsense, Lorelai," Emily replied, and Lorelai could just see her hands waving dismally through the air. "I'm not concerned with the actual Easter egg hunt, just the dinner. I can't wait to see what Sookie decides to whip up for us - usually the maids get our recipes from books."

"That's what they're for, Mom," Lorelai replied. She sighed and scuffed her heeled foot against the worn carpet behind the desk. Michel had put it there for the single purpose of Lorelai constantly doing that, and he refused to let her ruin their nice wood floor. "You know what, Mom? Friday sounds good," she said in a relenting voice.

"Come again?" Emily asked and Lorelai could hear the triumphant hitch in her tone.

"Friday night, I'll be there."

"What about the big Easter dinner there?"

"Sookie can take over for me," Lorelai lied.

"Great!" Emily retorted excitedly. "So, can we expect you three around, say, seven?"

Suddenly Lorelai remembered Dean. Now, she already knew that her parents did not approve of Dean, and they usually ganged up against him. However, something felt wrong excluding him from this dinner. Afterall, he was becoming part of their family, and if Emily and Richard didn't like that, than too bad. Besides, as soon as the night was in arrival, Lorelai knew that the dinner would be the perfect time to inform her parents of Rory's pregnancy.

"Uh, Mom? Can you expect four of us? I think Rory would like to bring a guest."

There was silence on the other end before Emily questioned, "Who? She broke up with that Huntzberger boy weeks ago."

"I don't even want to know how you know," Lorelai groaned. This conversation would never end.

"Your father and I associate with many different people, Lorelai. I believe a mutual friend informed us that they were heartbroken over the break-up of the young couple."

"Oh, well, there you have it," Lorelai said. "Mom, I'm not sure who she's bringing. Just set the table for an extra person please?"

"Alright, Lorelai. I'll see you Friday at seven."

"Yes, goodbye." Lorelai hit the 'end call' button and slammed the phone down on the desk. Michel walked up just then and gazed at her reproachfully. She shot him a dirty look before she walked back out of the front door to call Rory and tell her about Friday.

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**AN**: Sorry guys. I know this chapter was really just some filler... again. Ha. Sorry, I'm preparing myself for the big, dramatic telling of the Gilmores about Rory and Dean. Yay (note the sarcasm in my voice, please :)) Also, I know that Easter is on a Sunday, but it felt sorta more appropriate for the dinner to be on a Friday night like always --(grins sheepishly)--... so as always, **Read**&**Review**! 

P.S. - to all you Narco fans out there: **haydenlover883** is writing this cute little story about Dean and Rory. I like it, and you guys might too, so check it out and leave her a review! Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:...Really, do you think it's any different from the other chapters?... I wish...**

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**Chapter 15**

-- _Friday Night_ --

"I hate her," Rory muttered grumpily, her eyes searching the rearview mirror for any sign of her mom's car.

She and Dean had been sitting in front of the Gilmore Mansion for over fifteen minutes, and Lorelai and Luke were still a no show. After hearing the news Tuesday that they would be forced to sit through an evening of Friday Night Dinner at the Gilmore Mansion, Rory, Dean, and Luke were about ready to let Lorelai fend off the wolves on her own. Their run-ins with Emily and Richard hadn't brought to mind any pleasantries. In fact, Dean cringed when he found out Lorelai had officially named him Rory's secret guest.

"Why?" he had managed to croak out. He was pale and stricken in the face, as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Well, I figured that Friday would be the perfect time to inform them that you and Rory are back together, and that Rory's having a baby," Lorelai had stated rather cautiously.

If it was at all possible, Dean Forrester had died right then. As did Rory. They both knew, as well as Luke and Lorelai, that Emily and Richard did not like Dean. And they most certainly would not be happy to hear that Rory had gotten herself pregnant so early in her life and career, much less by Dean. In fact, Luke had found some sort of common ground with Dean after the announcement of Friday Night Easter Dinner. But there was no talking their way out of it. Lorelai had explained her struggle to keep Emily away, but figured it was best that she and Richard found out about Rory, Dean, and the baby at their house in Hartford, rather than in Stars Hollow, so as to not cause another scandal in the town.

Lorelai had also saw it best that Rory and Dean take a separate car. She wasn't sure how cruel her mother could be tonight. She knew how cold-hearted Emily could be to her, but not to Rory and Dean. And not when a baby was involved. So if things got too ugly, Rory and Dean would have a getaway car.

"She'll be here," Dean said, taking a sip of the coffee he'd stopped to buy for him and Rory.

Rory had also made Lorelai promise not to leave her and Dean to do the dirty work on their own. But Lorelai and Luke had been running a few minutes late because of the diner. And yet still, after driving in the slow lane, stopping for coffee, and circling the block three times, Rory and Dean were the only ones sitting in a car outside the Gilmore Mansion. Luke and Lorelai were fifteen minutes late.

"She promised," Rory mumbled, reaching down to grab her own cup of coffee. It was decaf, for the baby, but it was still coffee. Seeing how her nerves were causing her hands to shake from fear alone, she put the cup back without a sip, though. It would only make her more jumpy, and then her grandparents could complain that Dean was giving her drugs or something. She snorted in amusement at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked.

"I already know how this is going to end," Rory stated, though the humor was replaced by a pinch of sadness laced in with audacity. "I should just march in there and tell them that I love you, I'm having your baby, and I don't care what they think."

"You'd by lying, though, Rory."

"No, I wouldn't."

Dean sent her a skeptical look and sighed. "Look, I know you want to be all defiant and rebellious against your grandparents tonight, but the truth is you do care what they think about you… about us."

"How can you say that?" she asked incredulously. "You hate my grandparents! I would've thought that you'd be a little more enthusiastic about the whole idea of me tossing my grandparents out of our lives forever!"

"I don't hate them, Rory, I just don't agree with them," Dean sighed again. "But can you really blame me? Look at everything they've done to try and keep us apart."

"And what makes you think they'll welcome you with open arms tonight?"

"They won't," Dean relented.

"Which is why I don't want them in our lives," Rory cut in. "I love you, and if they can't accept that, than…"

"That's great," Dean said sincerely. "I love you, too. But don't let them cause another rift between us. Let them say their piece about family, money, and different worlds, and then move on. Let them make the decision about whether they want to be in our lives or not. Don't make the decision for them."

"I won't."

Dean smiled sadly and reached over and grabbed her hand in his. Giving it a squeeze, he said, "And promise me that when they do make that decision, you won't get upset and let it plague you."

She looked at him in the dim light from the windows. He looked a little anxious and reliant, yet serious at the same time. And she saw it in his eyes - that look of dread knowing the inevitable that faced them, which is what he feared. She nodded slowly and sincerely, squeezing his hand back and saying, "I promise."

The headlights of an arriving car flashed into the rearview mirror, lighting up the Prius. Rory smiled and jumped out, running into her mother's arms gratefully. "You're here," she exclaimed happily.

"No thanks to diner boy over there," Lorelai motioned over to Luke. "He forgot he waxed the floors, and as he's rushing down the stairs and onto the tile, he slips, does a complete aerial for the crowd inside Doose's Ice Cream parlor, and lands flat on his back."

Rory and Lorelai let out laughs, as did Dean who came up to Luke and patted him genially on the shoulder. Luke simply rolled his eyes and offered the three a sheepish grin.

"Anyway, what'd we miss?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing much," Rory replied, "We haven't gone in yet."

Lorelai smiled proudly and chirped, "My daughter ladies and gentlemen."

The four made their way to the door of the Gilmore Mansion, astounded that Emily hadn't noticed either car drive up. They debated for a good ten minutes whether or not to just book it, taking the claim that either no one was home when they arrived, or they'd arrived at the wrong house. At least, that's the alibi Luke and Dean tried to convince Lorelai and Rory to roll with. But both women knew that it was inevitable.

And just as Lorelai reached up to knock on the door, glowering down at her chicken daughter, her chicken daughter's chicken boyfriend, and her chicken fiancee, the door swung open to reveal Emily Gilmore, busy as a bee barking orders to the maids.

"How do you always do that?" Lorelai asked, reeling from the shock of her mother's apparent telekinetic powers.

"Do what, Lorelai?" Emily asked, finally turning to look at them. Since she'd grown accustom to the idea of Luke being a part of the family, and she was used to seeing Rory and Lorelai over the last several years, the only face that stuck out to Emily was Dean. "Oh, hello," she stated in that falsely cheery voice, yet there wasn't a smile on her face. "Come in."

They ushered themselves in, eager to get the evening over with. After placing their coats on the coat rack, they headed for the sitting room. Lorelai was the last, and she took a chance to glance back at her mother, who did not look amused or pleased at the sight of their extra guest. Lorelai sighed and followed Emily after the others, muttering, "Start your engines ladies and gentlemen," and rolling her eyes at the ceiling in a tired fashion.

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**AN**: Okay, I wrote this part last week (along with the next chapter), and it was all sorta spur of the moment, like I couldn't stop writing even though I was dead tired. I would've posted this last week, but I left to spend Easter Sunday with my brother's family, and I was the permanent babysitter to my 1 yr-old niece for three days. I got home yesterday, but was too tired to actually reread what I'd written and revise whatever I wanted to be revised. And this chapter is just mostly filler for the next chapter, but don't worry :) I'm posting it right after this one. **Read**&**Review**! 


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: ..._glares pointedly_... You're really going to make me say I don't own them... AGAIN?..._walks off, slamming door to room_...**

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**Chapter 16**

"Richard," Emily said, now forcing a smile as Lorelai, Luke, Rory, and Dean took their seats, "look who Rory decided to bring."

Richard looked up from his book, obviously a bit more intrigued with it than the thought of another Gilmore Dinner. His eyes rested on the tall, dark-haired man sitting extremely close to Rory, clutching her hand in his, and shifting his feet around a bit uncomfortably. He looked to Emily for the sign of her joke, only to realize by the forced smiles on everyone's faces that it wasn't a joke. He returned his gaze to the young man by Rory's side, gave a nod and forced a smile, saying, "Dean."

"Mom, Dad, it was really nice for you to invite us all here," Lorelai said, adding firmly, "as guests."

Emily sent Lorelai a pointed look before she headed to the drink cart. "What can I get everyone to drink? Dean?"

Dean looked a little apprehensive at the sudden question directed to him. Lorelai sent him a reassuring nod, and Rory squeezed his hand to calm him down. He let out a long-held breath, and replied politely, "Just a soda, thanks."

"I'll take a soda, too, Grandma," Rory said.

Emily poured them their sodas and handed them each a glass. She turned to Luke and Lorelai. "Scotch, Lorelai?"

"You know me all too well, mother."

"Luke?"

"Uh, soda's fine with me," Luke replied, feeling the same awkwardness that Dean felt and sharing a look with the young man across from him.

Emily handed both Lorelai and Luke their drinks and then poured herself and Richard drinks. After handing Richard his glass, she took a seat next to Lorelai and Luke on the sofa. She forced a smile and looked over to her granddaughter. There was something different about her, and not the human ornament attached to her arm.

"So, when did you two get back together?" Emily asked.

"Wow, Mom, jump right into the interrogation questions," Lorelai replied.

Emily turned to give her a disapproving glare. "Well, excuse me for wanting to be a little more informed on the happenings in my granddaughter's life."

"A while ago, Grandma," Rory supplied quickly. It was too early in the evening for her mother and grandmother to get into a heated argument. No, there'd be plenty of time for that later. "I ran into Dean in Hartford and we started talking again."

"Oh," Emily said. "And what have you been up to recently, Dean?"

The ultimate question. Dean could feel Richard's stare cutting through him. In fact, everyone had turned their attention to him. He forced a smile and replied, "I've been taking classes at Hartford Community College. Other than that, I work with a man named Tom down in Stars Hollow doing construction and carpentry."

"Construction and carpentry? Did you hear that, Emily? The boy does construction and carpentry now," Richard said, a little amused at the thought.

"He's really good, Dad," Lorelai commented. "He did most of the work for the Dragonfly."

"Yeah," Dean replied. Why is it Emily and Richard made him so nervous? Maybe because deep down he felt like Rory held their opinions of him in high respect. Or perhaps because every time he came to this house and met with these two people, they somehow sabotaged the relationship he and Rory had going. It seemed all too familiar, sitting in this room with those vultures, discussing his future.

"What ever happened to that girl you married?" Emily asked.

"Way to be blunt, Mom," Lorelai retorted.

"Grandma," Rory pleaded.

Dean squeezed Rory's hand to signal that he was okay with it. He turned to Emily and met her cold stare dead on. "Lindsay and I got divorced due to irreconcilable differences."

"Oh really?"

"She never did anything," Rory said with a little too much force.

Emily sent her a surprised look. Obviously she'd hit a sensitive nerve on her granddaughter.

"They had bills to pay, and Lindsay never went to work or school. She just sat there waiting for Dean all day," Rory continued. "He couldn't go to school, only work. Work, work, work. He ran himself into the ground for Lindsay."

Everyone noticed the conviction in Rory's tone. Lorelai looked proud to be called her mother, Luke looked a little uncomfortable and indifferent to being left out of the brewing argument, and Dean looked a little ashamed and embarrassed. Of course, he was proud that Rory had defended him as such, but hearing her state out loud the disrespect Lindsay had showed to him and their marriage made him realize how much of a mistake he'd made. He didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Emily and Richard both looked a little taken aback.

"It's time for dinner," Emily announced, standing and abandoning all means of the conversation that had just taken place. She felt a little offended that Rory had sent such a condescending and critical look at her with her statement.

The six adults gathered in the dinning room to eat. Richard and Emily sat at either end of the table with Luke and Lorelai to one side, and Rory and Dean to the other side. Three maids brought out the dishes of salads, and Lorelai groaned in distaste. She and Rory shared sympathetic looks as Dean, Luke, Emily, and Richard went ahead and started eating. There was much silence through the salads. The interrogation of Dean seemed to have soured the mood for the evening. There were a few questions directed to Rory about Yale, then a few directed to Lorelai about the late wedding invitations.

"Oh, well, I've been running a little late on them," Lorelai lied. She had forgotten all about telling her mother about the postponement. She glanced over at Rory, who looked grateful at the prospect of keeping her pregnancy secret.

"Lorelai, that is simply just rude. June 3rd is approaching at an alarming rate," Emily retorted. "I was under the opinion that your father and I weren't being invited any longer."

Lorelai forced a smile as the maids took away the plates of salads. "Of course you're invited, Mom," she said, all the while thinking, '_In another dimension, half way across the universe, over my dead, lifeless body._'

The maids brought out the plates of food - turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, ham, fruit salad (which Lorelai avoided just because it had the word salad in it), and other typical Easter dishes.

"Lorelai, is there something you're not telling me?" Emily asked suddenly.

Four pairs of eyes shared anxious looks with each other before Lorelai inquired, "Excuse me?"

Emily looked at them. There was something fishy with the way they all kept exchanging glances through the silences. It was as though they were using a new form of communication to keep Emily from knowing something that they all obviously knew. "You're keeping something from me."

"No, Grandma, it's just - " Rory started.

" - the food is looking delicious, Mom," Lorelai cut in. "You've really out done yourself tonight."

"Why thank you, but that's not it," Emily said tersely. "I know that face, Lorelai, I birthed it."

Lorelai dropped her fork and wiped her hands on her napkin, mumbling, "Now I'm done eating." The thought of Emily suffering through labor with her wasn't something she wanted to picture in her head as she tried to down the jiggly-jello thing on her plate.

"Dean," Richard began yet again. He'd watched the boy all through the night, even though the discussion had veered far off topic of him.

"And here comes the encore," Lorelai muttered. Luke was the only one who caught that, and he sent her a reproachful look for joking at a time like this.

Richard, however, hit the Gilmore Girls with something they weren't expecting. He pursed his lips and said with the hint of a proud smile, "It's good to hear you've continued your education." Rory and Lorelai shared another look (a lot of those through the evening, huh?). Richard was being civil with Dean… yippee! Time to celebrate!

Or so they thought.

"However, I believe you recall the last conversation we had about your future plans," Richard continued.

"Yes, sir, I do," Dean replied. His face and voice had lost their timidness toward the Gilmores. Now, he knew exactly where this evening was going, and he was not going to back down or let Rory go without a fight. Not again.

"And I believe you recall me stating that Rory has high aspirations and dreams. She wants to travel and report and write. She's going to graduate from Yale, become a journalist."

"Yes, sir, I know all that. Rory's told me."

"Mom, what on earth is this jello thing?" Lorelai asked, trying to de-fuel the fire that had already been started.

"And do you recall how I stated that this family has lofty ambitions of maintaining sound structure and integrity? We Gilmores are respected and envied," Richard continued.

"By who, Dad?" Lorelai scoffed, trying to stall the inevitable yet again.

"Yes, sir, I do," Dean stressed.

"Well, perhaps I never quite made myself clear, seeing as you have managed to, yet again, somehow fascinate and attract my granddaughter into being with you."

"Grandpa, you don't understand - " Rory tried again. She had the buildup of tears pooling at the edges of her eyes. How would she ever make them see things her way? She wished she still had the courage she'd had in the car, but that had been a fluke. Her emotions were getting the best of her.

"With all due respect, Mr. Gilmore," Dean stated. He was being unusually civil and compliant with the Gilmores. "I love Rory. She has the most indomitable goals and dreams, and I know that she'll achieve them. That's one of the reasons why I do love her so much."

"But you were married to another woman," Emily pointed out.

"I didn't love her," Dean said, beginning to lose his courtesy now. "I've always loved Rory. I was just young and stupid, and I thought Rory didn't love me."

"And what happens when you think that again? Are you going to dump her and run off to marry another unfit woman?" Emily asked.

"Grandma!"

"Mom!"

"Mrs. Gilmore, why is it that you hate me so much?" Dean asked brusquely.

"I don't hate you," Emily replied, shaking the notion off with a false laugh.

"You've hated me since the day you met me," Dean said. "I've done nothing but provide your granddaughter with love and support in her aspirations, unlike the other loser boyfriends she's brought to your house." Rory let the boyfriend bit slip; she was more concerned with the anger etched across Dean's face.

"Admit it," Dean went on, "you've had it out for me the moment you found out that I wasn't a hoity-toity, arrogant, stuck-up with money and a prestigious family background."

Emily looked utterly aghast and unable to speak. Richard, however, wasn't. "It's that simple, Dean," he said. "You and Rory are part of two completely different worlds. You will always be that safe haven in the small town for her to turn to, but that's never going to be enough for her. You can't provide for her."

The words rang a bell in Luke's head. They were strangely familiar to the advice Dean had given him once about dating the Gilmore Girls.

"Grandpa, I love him," Rory declared defiantly, her tears falling freely now.

"Rory, he's a contractor; a carpenter. He'll never amount to anything; never be able to provide you with your dreams and desires," Richard stated more forcefully.

"Hey!" Luke cut in, standing from his seat, anger on his face. As much he and Dean didn't get along, Dean wasn't that bad a guy, especially if Rory said so. "What makes you think you're so much better than him? Just because you live in a nice, big house, with a few green backs in your wallet and a nice, fat bank account? That says nothing about the person you are, and Dean's twice the man you'll ever be with that attitude!"

Richard and Emily looked downright shell-shocked and offended beyond belief. Lorelai had on a proud look because her fiancee had finally stood up to the Great Gilmores and left them speechless, all the while defending Dean, the man he supposedly hated. Rory and Dean both had benevolent looks on their faces as well.

"I refuse to be spoken to like that under my own roof," Richard finally snapped.

"See, Lorelai," Emily asked, turning to her daughter. "See how barbaricly outrageous these two act towards us? It's uncalled for!"

"Mom, for once, sit down and be quiet," Lorelai supplied with a level tone.

Emily looked affronted again, but recovered and turned toward Rory. "Rory, darling, you can't be serious about all this. You can't love a man who obviously hates your family and comes as an invited guest to their house and berates them and falsely accuses them."

"But I do love him, Grandma," Rory stated. "And I'm going to marry him and be with him for the rest of my life, and you have to accept that."

Dean looked over at Rory, astonishment on his face. Had he heard that bit correctly?

"But why? You've just gotten back together," Emily retorted.

"Rory, he doesn't belong in our world," Richard said again, his voice low and his tone sharp.

"You can't keep telling me that anymore," Rory exclaimed, jumping to her feet and staring both her grandparents down. "Dean and I are together. We love each other, and we're going to have a baby together. And if you can't accept that, then that's your decision. We're going to be a family, me, Dean, and the baby, and there's nothing you can do that will change that!" Without waiting for a reaction or reply, Rory threw her napkin down and ran from the room, the front door slamming shut moments later.

Rory's outburst had thrown the room into a stock-still silence. Dean, who's features showed all the evident surprise from the outburst to the pride of Rory standing up against her grandparents, offered an apologetic glance toward Lorelai and Luke, and made his way down the path Rory had just taken.

Emily and Richard both looked utterly dumbfounded at the sudden news thrust into their faces. Their oh-so perfect granddaughter - the promising journalist, attending Ivy-League Yale University - had thrown it all away to be like her mother - a young mother with no high aspirations or goals other than when the next sale at Outlet 'R Us would take place so she could buy the family new clothes. Or at least that's the picture the Gilmores envisioned in their head, and it had them utterly horrified. They couldn't let this happen again. First with Lorelai, and now with Rory? They had given her the opportunities to open all of the doors in her life, and she was choosing this one? With Dean? The bagboy who'd married young, divorced young, became a contractor and studied at a community college? It was completely unacceptable for a Gilmore.

Lorelai was a bit shell-shocked, but proud all the same. She had watched her parents try to manipulate and control her daughter's life the same way they had done with hers, and Rory had finally had enough. She had stood her ground, and that was something Lorelai could brag about. Rory was her mother's daughter.

The anger had managed to fade from Luke's face. It was replaced by a bit of surprise like everyone else's faces, but also held a bit of pride like Lorelai's. He knew it was hard for Lorelai and Rory to stand up to Emily and Richard. The two did not make it easy in the least. He was now ready to leave for the night, though. Especially with the uncomfortable thought Rory had decided to leave them with.

Apparently, the anger that Luke had carried seemed to seep off of him and into Emily. She whipped around to face Lorelai. "This is all your fault," she exclaimed, throwing out her finger accusingly.

"How?" Lorelai asked. Deep down she had known that Emily was going to blame her as soon as the news had gotten out. In Emily's eyes, it was always Lorelai's fault. The picture of sixteen year old Lorelai in labor would be forever burned in Emily's mind as the day her daughter besmirched all the good in the Gilmore name. And the accusations would always be thrust toward Lorelai as a form of punishment for dashing her parents hopes and dreams of their only daughter.

"You should have taught her better! If you had let us into your lives, Rory would never have met that man, and she would never have thrown her life away like you! She had a future, Lorelai; a bright and glorious future! And she threw it away to be with that… that… that construction worker! The dirty bagboy from the market! The divorcee!" Emily shouted in distraught disbelief.

Warm and angry tears had formed in Lorelai's eyes. She stood and threw her napkin down, painfully in the same manner as Rory. Luke followed, seeing it as a sign for them to escape the night. Lorelai shook her head and glared at her mother.

"I'm sorry I'm not the daughter you always wanted, Mom," she spit out venemously. "But I'm not sorry that I spared Rory from this life. And I'm not sorry that she met Dean and fell in love with him, or that she got pregnant, or that she is _finally happy_ with how her life is going. She's going to finish school and she's going to become a great journalist, and I know all that because I know Dean, Mom. He'll help her achieve her goals and dreams, because he always has."

Emily just stared at her. Lorelai took the silence as a good enough reply, and stormed out of the room with Luke by her side. The Great Gilmores had finally been knocked off their pedastal.

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**AN**: Okay, now I'm desperate for **reviews**! This is really my first big time, drama-filled chapter with the Great Gilmores, and I need to know how well I did or didn't do. I know some of it is a little off character (I think), but this sorta helps build on to the story's different relationships. Anyway, please, please, please **Read**&**Review**!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: "Muahaha! They're all mine now! Muahaha"...stops mid-maniacal laugh, stares deadly daggers at unseen source... "What do you mean they're not mine? What? You were supposed to get rid of the evidence!"...**

**AN: OMGosh, thanks to all the people that reviewed! I'm so glad you all liked the last two chapters! You're all awesome! Well, without further ado...**

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**Chapter 17**

"Rory?" Dean asked, finally breaking the silence.

They had been on the road for twenty of the thirty minutes it took to drive back to Stars Hollow from Hartford. And the car had been filled with complete silence. Neither Rory or Dean knew what to say to break the silence. They had both been right - Emily and Richard did not accept their news. And from the looks of it, they both didn't seem to want to be in the young couple's life.

"Rory?" Dean tried again, turning his gaze to her for just enough time to take in her emotional state. Her eyes were red and a bit wet still, but she wasn't crying any longer. That was a good sign. Dean averted his eyes back to the road. "Are you okay?"

Rory debated whether or not to answer him. The silence of the car was welcoming to her anger. She was angry towards her grandparents, herself, her mom, and even a little bit towards Dean. Her grandparents were completely irrational and stubborn, refusing to let a little happiness in Rory's life. And Lorelai should have known better than to suggest telling Emily and Richard. She shouldn't have allowed Emily to invite Rory and Dean at all. And Dean - it was his fault in the first place. If he had just let her pass him by, that night would have never happened. Rory would have never fallen back in love with him, or gotten pregnant, or upset everybody and their lives.

But Rory also knew that wasn't right - to lay the sole outcome of tonight on Dean's shoulders. All he'd ever done was love her. And she'd broken his heart twice.

The anger melted away then. It was replaced with confusion and loss. How could she have been so stupid? To let Dean go the last time? Or to let herself believe all the lies about different worlds and different people? How about convincing herself that she was supposed to be the one person that everybody counted on - the one who was supposed to make everyone happy? It was imprudent to think such a thing.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, seeing the sadness spark life in Rory's eyes for a second time that evening. "Rory? Don't cry."

Rory brought her hands to her face and let out a hiccupped sob. "It's not fair," she cried. "I keep messing everything up. First with Logan and school, now with you and a baby. Dean, I'm ruining everyone's dreams and wishes, even my own."

Dean pulled over to the shoulder of the road. He flicked on the hazard lights and watched a car pass them through the rearview mirror, distantly curious if it was Luke and Lorelai, wondering if they'd escaped yet. Then he turned to Rory and wrapped his arms around her shaking form. He rested his head on hers, kissing it softly and taking in the smell of her shampoo.

"Shh," he cooed, rubbing her arms and trying to still her tears. "Rory, you aren't ruining anything."

"Yes I am," she insisted. "My grandparents wanted me to become this big shot journalist/reporter, and do the things that my mother never had a chance to. They wanted me to marry into this blue-blood family just like theirs, and to graduate from Yale. And my mom and Luke - they're getting married soon, and my mom has all this stress with Luke's twelve-year old daughter coming into the picture and having to postpone the wedding, and now me and you are living with them. And you," she cried out, pulling away from him and backing against the car door, throwing her index finger out, "You were finally paying off all your bills, and going to school, and living with that girl, being happy - "

"I wasn't happy with her," Dean objected, his brow furrowed in confusion as to why Rory had ripped herself from his arms. "Rory, why is it always about everyone else? Can't it be about you? What do _you_ want?"

Rory was taken aback by the question. "What?"

"What do you want?"

"I want everyone to be happy! I want to make everyone happy!"

Dean shook his head sadly. "You can't, Rory. That's not your responsibility."

"Yes it is! I'm Rory Gilmore - the perfect daughter of Lorelai Gilmore, and granddaughter to Emily and Richard Gilmore. The Valedictorian of Chilton Preparatory, and attendee of Yale! I'm the Town Princess who does no wrong!"

"Rory, you can't always be those things," Dean reasoned.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to be," he replied quietly. "If you're all of those things, where do I fit in?"

"Dean," Rory started, her rationality coming back to her. "I love you, you know that."

"Yes, yes, I do. But admit it - if you were all of those things, you'd be the same person you were a year ago. And we'd be on different pages again."

Rory shook her head to object, but remained silent, lost at words. It was true what Dean said.

"Rory, why can't you understand that this was meant to happen? Things happen for a reason."

There was silence in the car once again. Rory's sobs had diminished to hiccups, and she'd stopped crying long enough to clear her blurry vision and get a good look at Dean. He looked worried, yet sincere. "You always tell me that," she mumbled finally.

Dean offered a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, I do. And I mean it."

Slowly, Rory let herself relax back towards Dean, and he wrapped his arms around her once more. She took in the feel of his breath atop her head, and his hands rubbing soothing circles on her arms, trying to instill faith and sense into her once more. After a moment, she turned her face up to his and offered an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for getting all worked up. This pregnancy thing is trickier then Mom said."

"It's okay; I understand," Dean replied, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Dean," Rory said.

"I love you, too, Rory," Dean said.

They pulled apart, and Dean turned off the hazard lights and pulled the car back onto the road. After a minute, he was reminded of Rory's outburst in the Gilmore Mansion, and he turned to look at her. She had her head against the cool glass of the window, her eyes half shut. He almost didn't want to bother her, but she saw him and picked her head up to look at him, smiling.

"What?" she asked.

Dean shook his head, embarrassed for being caught staring at her. "Nothing."

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized, already knowing the reason he'd been looking at her. "I'm just so tired after everything that happened tonight."

"I know; it's fine." He turned to look at her a moment. "You can go to sleep. I'll carry you inside when we get home."

"Ooh, how romantic," Rory joked. She laid her head against the window again.

Dean let out a chuckle before the image actually registered, and the question popped up in his head again. "Um, Rory," he finally decided, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," she responded.

"At your grandparents', you, um, said to your grandmother that you were, uh, going to marry me and spend the rest of your life with me."

"Uh-huh," Rory said slowly, turning a light shade of pink.

Dean waited for her to say something else, but she remained silent. He had to rip his gaze from the road and turn to her to see if she'd fallen asleep in the ten second silence. Seeing her awake and staring out at the red tail-lights of the cars in front of them, Dean rested his gaze back to the road and asked, "So? Is that what you want?"

"I guess," Rory replied. She shifted in her seat, a little uncomfortable with the topic. She still didn't know how Dean felt about marriage and life together. She knew he loved her, but marriage was a big step for them, especially considering the fact that Dean had already been married once before, and it had not been a pleasant experience. "I mean," Rory went on, seeing the disappointment on his face, "I love you, and I want you to be in my life forever, and the baby's. I just don't know how you feel."

"I told you," Dean said, "I love you, Rory. Always have, always will. A side effect to meeting the Gilmore Girls," he added with a grin.

"So then what? Do you want to get married? Just because you love someone doesn't mean you want to marry them."

Dean was silent for a second before he replied, "Let see how all of this goes first. We'll have the baby first, and if we're still sure about everything, then we'll get married. If that's what we both want."

"Okay, good," Rory sighed, and Dean sent her a mock-insulted look. She laughed, "I mean, 'Good, I don't have to walk down the aisle fat and eight months pregnant.' Not at the top of my list, that one."

"You'd still be beautiful, though."

"Aw, aren't you sweet?" Rory said, patting his arm because she was too tired to move her head to kiss him. She let out a yawn. Within seconds, she'd fallen asleep to the rhythmic hum of the car on the asphalt, and Dean took a quick glance at her before averting his eyes to the road once again. She looked like such an angel when she slept; his angel.

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As always, **Read**&**Review**!

**AN**: I realized all too late that my logistics (or timetable) of the whole story is a little off. The only reason I'm stating this is because I don't want you all to picture Rory with a beach ball of a stomach already, because she's still early in the pregnancy and she's barely starting to show now. So, I hope this'll help clear up the images: Rory and Dean got together on February 3rd (so disreguard the concept of the episode Vineyard Valetines, b/c Rory and Logan weren't together obviously on Valentine's day in this story), and Rory is about 2.5 months pregnant. Okay, got it? I'm sorry, I just felt like I had to clear that up.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: ... Nothing... _stifles a sob..._ belongs to me. All credit to the lovely, talented mind of creator AS-P... _applause_...**

**Author's Note:  
**Just a heads up: there are spoilers in this for last week's episode, **I Get A Sidekick Out of You**. Nothing really big, but something sorta big at the same time. :) Sorry. Some of the dialogue came from the show (credit to the AS-P), but not much. Also, I sorta edited it to include Dean since this is a Narco fic.

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**Chapter 18**

The next couple weeks passed by rather quickly. Luke went out of town to chaperone April's class field trip into Philadelphia. He was nervous as all, and so was Ceasar once he realized that Luke was leaving him in charge of the diner. Lane and Zach had their wedding, and Rory was the Maid of Honor. There was a bit of controversy because Lane's grandmother was coming over from Korea to see her only granddaughter get married, and she was a strict Korean, striking fear and anxiety even into Mrs. Kim's heart. Of course, to top things off, Lorelai was forced to bring a date, and her only option once Michel decided to go to a Celine Dion concert instead, was to invite Christopher.

Of course, that left Rory and Dean in an awkward position. Christopher still didn't know that Rory had broken up with Logan or gotten back together with Dean, or that they were having a baby, and she wasn't even sure what his whole take on Dean was. She knew he liked Logan, probably due to the fact that he saw so much of himself in Logan. And she figured he could like Dean, if they left out the bits about marriage, divorce, affair, and newfound pregnancy.

"You've got to tell him, kiddo," Lorelai pointed out.

Rory sent her a frown. "And why is that?"

"For starters, you're beginning to show. And although Chris hasn't raised you or been around you long enough to recognize you're unusual Gilmore eating habits, I'm sure he knows that we Gilmores can eat a whale and not gain a pound," Lorelai remarked. "Second, you can't just wait for him to become pals with Dean until you mention the baby. Lord knows that might take a while, and then you'd be left to explain why your baby is already a year old."

"Sometimes I despise you," Rory commented in a humorous tone.

"Lore! Rory!"

Both Gilmore girls turned around to see the familiar face of Christopher Haden approaching them. He had on a big smile and had cleaned up rather nicely seeing as he hadn't planned on coming to a wedding.

"Christopher," Lorelai said as they embraced in a hug.

Rory was next in line for a hug and greeted, "Hey Dad."

Christopher stood back and yanked at the collar of his suit-jacket. "How do I look?" he asked, turning to Lorelai.

"Like a man," Lorelai said with a grin, looking towards Mrs. Kim who had just come out of Lane's house.

"Excuse me?" Christopher asked, sending Rory a confused, yet amused look.

Rory waved her hand dismally and patted Christopher on the shoulder. "I'm going to go check on Lane," she replied.

"There's something different about her," Christopher said, watching her go.

"You have no idea," Lorelai mumbled, grabbing his arm and pulling towards the front door.

All in all, the ceremony in the Kim's house lasted a good twenty minutes. It was a Buddhist wedding to appease Lane's grandmother, and as soon as it was finished, the grandmother left to return to Korea. After her departure there was an unusual foot race of the wedding patrons to the church since there were 62 Koreans and only 58 seats - time for the Seventh Day Adventist wedding to appease Lane's mother. Lorelai and Christopher ran into Sookie and Jackson on the way.

"What do you see? Do you see anything open?" Lorelai asked, eyes darting around the chaotic wedding hall.

"We'll take two and two! Two and two is fine," Sookie replied.

"We can find four together," Lorelai objected.

"I don't think we can," Sookie remarked.

Ignoring the pushing and shoving as people made a dash for open seats, Lorelai led the other three up to the second row. She stopped and smiled at the man sitting with two seats on either side of him. "Hey Dean," she greeted.

"Oh, hey Lorelai," Dean said, turning his face away from his phone to look up at her. "Sookie, Jackson," he said with a nod.

"Are you saving all these seats?" Jackson asked.

"Not really," Dean replied, and Sookie and Jackson made their way past him while Lorelai and Christopher took up the two seats by the aisle. "I forgot Rory was Maid of Honor, so I saved two for you and her, then I remembered Michel - where is he by the way?"

"Long story involving Celine Dion and how he's getting a demotion when he gets back," Lorelai sighed, calming down after the run. She turned to Dean and looked him up and down. "How long have you been here?"

He smirked. "Rory told me to get here early for a seat."

Lorelai nodded and noticed Christopher listening to their conversation. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink in color for forgetting to introduce the two, and she said, "Oh, I'm so sorry! Christopher, this is Dean Forrester. Dean, this is Christopher Haden, Rory's father."

Christopher and Dean both shook hands.

"We've met before, haven't we?" Chris asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, a while ago."

"Rory's back to dating Dean, Christopher," Lorelai explained.

"Really?" Chris asked, eyebrows raised. It wasn't at all a surprised tone, just one that said 'and you'd be introducing me to him as Rory's father for what reason other than that?' He leaned in close to Lorelai and asked, "What happened to Logan? Rory hasn't said anything to me."

Lorelai felt Dean tense beside her and knew instantly that he'd heard Christopher. She waved her hand to signal silence from Christopher as the wedding started. The entire crowd stood as Lane was coming down the aisle.

"You know, she's the first one of Rory's friends to be getting married," Lorelai whispered to Christopher.

"You know, Rory may be next," Christopher replied.

The words struck a cord in Lorelai, without Christopher realizing just how true those words could be, and she turned to glance at Dean on her other side. He noticed her gaze and offered an unknowing smile, and Lorelai returned it. The thought of Rory getting married was somewhat life shattering. It would send Lorelai a whole new curve ball to life. Slowly but surely, her daughter was growing into a woman who wouldn't be her daughter anymore. Nope, Rory Gilmore would be a mother, a wife… not a Rory Gilmore. Perhaps a Rory Forrester. The name stung Lorelai's mind, and another realization hit her. Rory could possibly get married before she ever did. How would that be for town gossip? Single mother of twenty-one years is swindled and beaten to tying the knot by her sixteen year younger daughter.

Christopher nudged her in the knee, noticing that she had zoned out. Even Dean and Sookie were sending her worried glances. She offered up a fake smile of reassurance and went back to the vows that were being exchanged. Eternal promises never to be broken or detracted from. Lorelai slowly questioned whether or not she was ready to make such a promise.

-----------------------------------

The reception was a wild one, especially with Lorelai's drunken speech to the bride and groom… and the entire town. Rory, Dean, and Christopher had finally decided to end the madness when she confessed that she wasn't getting married on June 3rd anymore. Rory was worried about it, but Christopher assured her Lorelai wouldn't remember any of it later considering she'd been knocked up with eight tequila shots.

Christopher carried Lorelai home and dropped her off on the couch. Rory went ahead to the kitchen to make coffee, and Dean slipped into Rory's room to change, which was his room, too, now. However, Christopher didn't know that, and was surprised when he saw Dean come out in sweats and a T-shirt. He raised his brow in question, but said nothing as Rory came back with a glass of water and two aspirin.

It was at that moment that Lorelai decided to mumble something incoherently about June 3rd yet again, and all three sets of eyes watched her drop her face back into the pillow which Christopher had tried too painfully to keep away due to the resulting pillow face in the morning. Christopher sighed and picked Lorelai up in his arms. "I'm going to take her up to her bed, okay?" he replied, heading towards the stairs.

"Alright," Rory said. She watched Dean head back toward their room, yawning tiredly. "Just come and get us if you need anything, okay?" Rory said, turning back to face Christopher.

"Us? You mean, Dean's staying over tonight?"

Rory snorted. "Dad, I'm a big girl now."

"Yeah, but now? I mean, tonight, with everything that's happened already?" Chris asked, looking down at the sleeping Lorelai in his arms and then averting his eyes back to Rory.

Rory let out a sigh. She knew that the question would have arisen sooner or later; Lorelai had been right. Rory had just hoped it would have been later rather than sooner. "After you put her down, come back down here so we can talk."

"Uh-oh, is this about the cherry bomb in the girls' bathroom? Because I didn't do it; Mark did," Christopher joked, noting the serious tone his daughter had. This couldn't be anything good if Rory was sounding so adult like with that single sentence.

"No, it's not about the cherry bomb," Rory replied with a smile. "And who exactly is Mark?"

"I don't know. Doesn't Mark just sound like a name for a serial cherry bomber?"

"Not really."

"Oh, well," Chris replied, and Lorelai mumbled something about the Yummy bartenders. He shifted her weight in his arms and said to Rory, "I'll just put her in bed and be right down."

"This oughta be fun," Dean said, watching him go.

Rory turned around, a little shocked he'd come back out from their bedroom. She offered a smile, and he mirrored it.

"I thought you were going to bed?" she asked.

"And what ever gave you that idea?" he inquired, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him.

Rory shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps that you were yawning and half asleep walking back there a couple seconds ago."

"I can't sleep without you by my side," he replied softly, leaning down to gently kiss her on the lips.

She began to fall into the kiss when she heard the door to her mother's room shut, and she pulled away quickly. Dean looked a little sad at the prospect of losing the perks that would have followed that kiss. She sent him a 'not now while my father is here and I still have to tell him he's going to be a grandpa' look.

"Do you want me to stay and tell him with you?"

"No," Rory said, shaking her head. "My relationship with him tends to be choppy as it is. We had a falling out about a year ago, and he's been making it up lately, and things are getting back to being normal between us. I just… I need to be the one that tells him. I don't know how he'll take it. At least with my grandparents we had an inkling."

"An inkling?" Dean echoed with a smirk.

"Oh be quiet and go to bed," Rory said with a grin, pushing him back towards the kitchen. "I'll be in there as soon as I can. And then the fun can start."

"Ooh, I can't wait," Dean commented with mock enthusiasm and a genuine grin, and Rory watched him enter their room and shut the door behind him.

She turned around to see her father standing at the bottom of the stairs, an amused smile on his features. She was a little surprised, realizing he'd just witnessed the end portion of her and Dean's conversation, but smiled nervously all the same. This was going to be a fun night.

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**AN**: I thought I'd treat you guys to a new chapter to go with the new episode tonight. Although this shouldn't really count as a new chapter seeing as it's just filler for the next chapter. I was meaning to post this with the next chapter, which I have done already, but I still need to edit it. Maybe I'll post it tonight after Gilmore Girls; if not, then it'll be up tomorrow morning.

**ANN**: I've been a naughty fanfic writer... _shakes head in disappointment_ ... I totally forgot to enable anonymous reviews, and I. Am. Sorry. I hope all of you who don't have an account or don't want to log in to leave a review b/c you're busy or what not, leave me a review now that I've fixed that feature. Pretty please? With sprinkles and whipped cream on top? LoL.

**Read** & **Review**!


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:.. seriously guys, I'm running out of ways to say I don't own them...**

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**Chapter 19**

"Hey Dad," Rory said, not knowing what else to say.

Christopher just kept grinning. "I see you and Dean are quite comfortable with each other," he said, maneuvering around the coffee table and taking a seat on the couch.

Rory nodded, "Yeah, we are."

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Wow, was he jumping right into the conversation. Rory sighed, fiddling with her fingers as she took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. There was no easy way to make the actions of the past three months sound simple and justifiable. She had that feeling in her gut; that he would reject her just like Emily and Richard, because she knew how much he had liked Logan, and how similar they both were.

"Do you like Dean?" she asked suddenly. No reason why she couldn't just ease the news of her pregnancy to him without directly saying it.

"Sure," Christopher said with a nod, his smile broadening. "He seems to like you very much. He was your first boyfriend, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was."

Christopher's eyes darted toward the upstairs bedroom. "Amazing how the Gilmore Girls seem to attract their first loves back into their lives, isn't it?"

"What can I say; we have good taste in charming men."

Christopher brought his eyes back to Rory's and offered her another smile. He knew how nervous she was; about what, he didn't know. He did have a clue though. "You love Dean, don't you?"

Rory looked up, a little taken aback by the sudden question. She nodded slowly and replied quietly, "Yes, I do."

There was a solemn silence, where Rory's eyes darted back to her fidgeting hands and Christopher stared through her as though she was made of glass. The sudden drizzle of rain could be heard splashing quietly on the roof and front steps. Beyond that, Rory could make out the sounds of the last of the wedding patrons, scurrying home to avoid the water. She smiled slightly as she remembered the ceremony and after party.

The only thought in her head when she watched Lane walk down the aisle, and saw her mother and father whispering, was that she wanted to be the person walking down that aisle with all those smiling faces and the proud looks her parents displayed. And her gaze had locked onto Dean's as Lane and Zach made their vows, and her heart ached remembering watching him and Lindsay coming out of the church, kissing and laughing. She had wanted to be the one in a dress; to be the one who promised her life to him, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as they both shall live. And she remembered with a smile how she'd told her mother that he was her Dean, not Lindsay's.

"Rory?"

She was brought from her thoughts by her father, whose blue eyes were gazing at her in thorough concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about something, I'm sorry," Rory apologized, rubbing her face with the back of her sleeve as though it itched. "What were you saying?"

"I was wondering what it was you wanted to tell me."

"Oh, um…" Rory placed her hands firmly in her lap, holding them there and returning her look to her father. Tears started in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. There was still a chance that he'd accept the news happily.

"Rory, you can tell me anything, you know that," Chris said, reaching over to lay his hand on her arm and patting it comfortingly. "I won't get mad or upset. Scout's honor."

Rory let out a laugh seeing the goofy look on her father's face as he held up his free hand. She sighed and said quietly, "Dean and I love each other very much. We always have, it was just never the right time to be together, you know?"

Chris nodded.

"And we sort of ran into each other a couple months ago, and we got together," Rory paused, realizing how awkward this was getting for both her and Christopher. It was one thing to be open about her sexual explorations with her mother, but it was completely different to discuss them or even mention them to her father. "I'm sorry," she whispered, seeing the growing discomfort on his face.

"No, no, it's okay," he added quickly. He wanted Rory to come to him for advice and to be able to give him news, no matter what it concerned. He hadn't always been there for her - in fact, he'd been virtually non-existent for the first half of her life - and he wanted to be able to change that now.

"What I'm trying to say, is that, I'm, uh," she paused again, swiping at her eyes to keep the tears at bay, "pregnant."

It all became suddenly clear to Christopher. He's eyes darted back to Rory's bedroom where Dean had disappeared to. "Dean's the, uh, um…"

"Yes, Dean's the father," Rory mumbled with a nod. She looked up to see her father's expression, and by the pitied gaze he cast her, she added, "I love him and he loves me, Dad. It's not out of force or pity or anything. We're together because we want to be. Believe me, I wouldn't be with him if I didn't truly want to be."

"And you're sure that he feels the same way?"

"You don't know Dean, Dad. He loves me more than anyone I've ever known; he always has. No matter what, he was always there for me and willing to give us another chance. I broke his heart three times, Dad, and he's still able to forgive me for that. He even told his parents about me and him getting back together, not even about the baby, and they kicked him out, and Mom said he could stay here with us for a while."

"Rory, sweetie, you're rambling," Chris said with a chuckle, laying both of his hands on her shoulders.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Chris replied. He let out a breath of air, wondering where to go from this shock of news. His eyes flipped to Rory's nervousness again - she was watching him as though she were a doe caught in headlights. He sent her a lopsided grin and replied, "Does he still have a motorcycle? Because I can always trade him the bike for you if he's that in love…"

"Dad!" Rory rolled her eyes and hit him playfully on the arm, laughing along with him.

When the laughter died down, Chris turned back to Rory. "Seriously, kiddo, if you love him and he loves you, I don't see a reason for you to be nervous telling me all this. Okay, so you're going to have a baby. Sure, that's a shock because it wasn't part of "The Plan," he emphasized the last two words. "But the best things in life are thrown at you with a curve ball. They're unexpected and mysterious, which makes them all the better than whatever plan you had to begin with."

Rory took those words to heart.

"I mean, look at your mother and I. We got a beautiful, sensible, intelligent, sweet little girl who grew up to be an amazing woman. We couldn't be prouder of you, Rory, if you were the spokesperson for the Oscar Meyer Weiner campaign."

Rory chuckled.

"And you're just like your mom, Rory. You'll be a great mom just like her."

Rory's smile grew brighter, and the tears pooled in her eyes for a second time that evening. This time it was out of happiness and pride.

"And if you and Dean can manage to find your way back to each other after - what? Four? Five years? - then someone up there is trying to make it painfully clear that you and he belong together."

Rory leaned forward to wrap her arms around Christopher. Boy, was she proud to call him her father in that moment.

"Thank you so much," Rory said once they pulled apart. "I was afraid you'd take all this news like Grandma and Grandpa."

"Emily and Richard?" Chris made a face. "Let me guess, they didn't approve?" Rory's silence answered the question itself. "Don't worry kiddo, there's bigger and brighter things ahead. Besides, you've got Dean, your mom, Luke, and me all on your side… right?"

Rory nodded.

"Then there you go! Pass the popcorn, stick in the movie, prop your feet up on the couch, lay back, and call it a day. I'm beat," he said with a smile, throwing his feet up on the coffee table and leaning back, TV remote in hand as he flipped the television on.

Rory just let out a laugh and stood from her spot, so her father could put his feet on the couch. "Are you staying the night? If so, I can get you some blankets and you can sleep on the couch."

"Sure, why not? It'll be a slumber party."

"I'll be right back," Rory said and headed toward her bedroom. She didn't know where her mother had put the extra blankets and pillows when she decided to redecorate the house. She didn't want to go and wake Lorelai up, and she knew she had an extra blanket in her closet.

Rory pushed open the door to her room, and made a beeline for the closet. She dug the blanket out of an unpacked box, and turned to find Dean asleep on her - their - bed. She grinned and made a mental note to clean out her room so they could buy at least a double bed for the two of them, since the twin wasn't big enough any longer. Of course, she liked having an excuse to sleep tightly in Dean's arms, and she was sure he liked having the same excuse to wrap his arms around her. However, Dean's long, slender body was now longer than the bed, and as content as his face was in his sleep, Rory knew he couldn't be that comfortable with his legs curled up in the awkward fashion.

She walked over to the bed and, putting the spare blanket she'd retrieved for her father down on the armchair in the corner of the room, she picked up the knitted blanket at the end of her bed and opened it, draping it across Dean's sleeping form. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

He stirred slightly, letting out a yawn. "Rory?" he managed to mumble and his eyes fluttered in a sleepy haze.

"Shh," Rory said with a shush. She ran her fingers loving through his hair and whispered quietly, "Everything's okay now - Dad understands. Just go to sleep; I'll be right back, I promise." She kissed him once more, on the forehead this time, and when she pulled away, his eyes had closed and his breathing had deepened and steadied, signaling that he was fast asleep again. She smiled, brushing her hand through his hair once more before she tore herself away. She grabbed the blanket on the armchair and made her way out to her dad.

Christopher had fallen asleep, too. Quiet snores rippled out of him, and he'd stretched his legs out along the sofa. Rory placed the blanket across him and switched the television off. '_I suppose he and Dean have more in common than I thought_,' Rory mused to herself.

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**AN**: Okay, I know this isn't the morning like I promised, but it's still the day after so that's a record for me. Lol. I think Christopher was a little out of character, but oh well. And I was being a sap when I wrote the last part of the chapter, so I know it's a little bit fluff-y.

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	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: ...blah, blah, blah... I still don't own 'em... but if you guys wanna pitch in, I'll share :)...**

**AN: I kind of swore off updating this piece while the site was acting all goofy (why! I hear you cry). I don't know, I just got this gigantic humungo (is that even a word?) writer's block and couldn't add another chapter. So this stuff is mostly filler, and I have no idea why I felt the need to explain how Rory and Dean's living situation in her tiny little bedroom is being dealt with. I'm weird like that, I guess. Ha. So, after the first couple sentences, I know I'm going to get several reviews screaming "WHAT!" but believe me, it's all going to play out right in the end... I think. -**_smiles sheepishly_**- I hope at least.**

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Chapter 20

_-- Several Weeks Later --_

June 3rd came and went. Lorelai mourned it with regret, and Luke seemed none the wiser. There were a few days where Lorelai snapped and barked short comments and insults at him, but it eventually passed. In fact, it had stopped once Luke started to bring April over a lot more. And with Dean and Rory's advice after they replayed the events of the wedding after party, he showered Lorelai with a lot more attention and affection, and was gracious to her for letting them wait to get married. Lorelai, of course, did not remember a thing about her drunken speech like Christopher had said, and the town, after much persuasion from Rory and Dean, had let it go.

Rory's semester at Yale ended, and she signed up to take several classes over the summer. She would have to take a lot of time off after the baby was born, and she knew that if she didn't finish getting her degree now, she wouldn't want to do it later. So she met with her advisor and he insisted that she take as many courses over the summer as she could, and then he'd talk to her professors for next year about letting her take their courses online while she was at home with the baby. Her advisor seemed thrilled, actually, that she was going to finish school, and that she was aiming for finishing it as soon as possible. If all went as planned, Rory would be graduating on time.

Though, even with the graduation subject nailed and taken care of, Rory was still left with dealing with the Yale Dailey News. Dean had begged her to keep her position as Editor in Chief, but she knew it would detract too much time away from her school work and the baby. Besides, if she had free time to do that, she had free time to get a job that actually paid her something for her work. Much to the dismay of the staff, Rory handed her position back over to Paris. There was a silent pack made at that moment that if the staff mutinized Paris out of office, Rory would go with her.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Rory didn't like going into Hartford all alone. At least before the summer ended, she'd carpool with Dean, and he'd pick her up after her classes were over. But, while she took summer courses to graduate on time, Dean took up double shifts with Tom to save up money. "Yale's graduation is much more important than a degree from a community college," Dean had said. Rory didn't like him putting his education on the back burner just because they needed a little extra money - she could always get a job too. She'd worked internships for two very prominent papers - one, she regretted to even take; the other, she regretted to leave - and she was sure she could find a job. But Dean didn't want her over-exerting herself with work, school, and the baby.

"I'm fat," Rory said one evening as she was looking in the mirror. Dean had gotten off of work early, and they'd made a date to watch a movie.

That was another thing that Rory hated. Since she was so self-conscious with flaunting about the obvious fact that she was pregnant to the entire town of Stars Hollow, she had been forced to wear very loose clothing like flow-y tank tops and/or with light jackets, to hide her growing belly. It wasn't so much obvious that she was pregnant, just that she was gaining weight, and all of Stars Hollow knew the Gilmore Girls could put away food and not gain an ounce.

"You're beautiful," Dean said from his reclined position on their bed.

With Dean's help and Lorelai's burden, Rory had managed to clean out her room. She'd packed her old books away in boxes and stored them in the garage on shelves. She still had an abundance of books left in her room, but Dean had built her new bookcases to replace her desk - which, because of Lorelai's objection to its sentimental value, went in the garage with the boxes of books and Luke's father's boat. Dean and Luke also built a new dresser and wardrobe for Rory's room - the wardrobe had two sides on it to allow more space for Rory and Dean's clothes, and the dresser was as tall as Dean, with a shelf built in for a television. Once all the unnecessary items were packed away in boxes and stored in the garage or the extra closet in the apartment above Luke's diner - and once, Lorelai had stopped trying to sneak the little things back in because "they were cold" or because "they were lonely" - Rory's old bed was stored in the apartment above the diner, and Rory and Dean bought themselves a double bed.

"Because I'm having a baby, and I need more room than you," Rory had explained nonchalantly in the store when they'd gone to buy a new bed.

Of course, the room seemed a lot smaller than before with less floor space, but it worked for the two of them. And the closeness was really starting to grow on them - they had silently and without realize, become a couple again. And it felt good to be that close to one another. So no complaints.

"I'm fat," Rory said again. She finally tore her gaze away from the mirror at the back of their wardrobe and settled on the edge of the bed, looking at Dean. "Do you still love me?"

"Always and forever," he replied with a smile. He tugged her arm and pulled her down next to him, wrapping his arm around her and resting it on her stomach. It had become a comfort position for them; a routine. He kissed the top of her head and reached for the remote on the other side on him. "Now, let's not worry about anything but the movie."

"What movie did you rent?" she inquired curiously, dancing her fingers along his forearm, her eyes mesmerized by it.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

She shifted her gaze to his, her eyes sparkling with a light that played on her smile. "Our first date?"

"Oh, only the classic," Dean replied with a wave of his hand, leaning in to give her a kiss on the lips.

The movie started, and Rory couldn't help but feel as though this had been the plan all along. She was happy and content with how everything was going now in her life. She was always only happy and content when Dean was in her life. But something felt off; a little wrong with the whole picture. Deciding to worry about it later, and chalking it up to a weird hormonal change since she was experiencing those a lot lately, Rory settled in close to Dean and watched the first movie she'd ever watched with him. And it was perfect again.

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**AN: If you have any doubts that I'm not a certain shipper (see the first sentence), then check my profile page. I assure you I am all for the two of them. I promise! It'll all work out in the end, you'll see. Also, sorry this isn't much of an update... I've been distracted with another Narco fic that I'm experimenting with - I'll post it as soon as I finish the first chapter of that (if I'm satisfied with it, ha).**

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	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I've lost all originality for any of these, so here's the redudant, "I don't own anything but the plot..."**

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Chapter 21

By the time July rolled around, the town was gossiping in relation to Rory's pregnancy. It was blatantly obvious that she was expecting a child, the bump now a hill she couldn't hide under flow-y shirts and light jackets. It was also obvious that Dean was the father, from which stemmed many rumors often pitying the young couple, especially Rory. At the beginning, people thought they were together because they'd managed to find each other again - the whole star-crossed lovers deal. But then, after the apparent news of her pregnancy, people assumed that she was staying with Dean just out of the sake for the child and Dean, since he was the father.

Rory and Dean did their best to ignore the rumors.

By the end of July, Rory's professors had allowed her to finish her summer courses online as well as her fall courses when they rolled around. Rory was relieved she didn't have to travel all the way into Hartford on a daily basis anymore. She spent the first couple days in the house, often visiting Dean at work and bringing him lunch.

"Are you sure about this?" Dean asked, cautiously lifting the basket to his nose and inspecting it for any strange odors.

"Yes, I can cook now," Rory said, swatting him playfully.

Dean just grinned, intertwining his hand with Rory's, and led her out to the shade of an oak tree at the far end of the yard of the house he was working on. He was about to sit on the grass when Rory stopped him, tipped up the lid from the basket, and pulled out a soft blanket she'd tucked away in there.

"Think of everything, don't you?" Dean asked, setting up the blanket and sitting down. He patted his lap and Rory happily obliged, laying back against him.

"Of course."

There was silence for a moment, where Dean's fingers danced across her belly. She placed her hand over his, flattening it over her clothed stomach.

"This is your daddy, little one," she said in a voice almost as soft as a whisper.

Dean smiled watching her.

After a second, there was a distinct kick from the baby inside Rory. Dean pulled his hand away, a little shocked.

Rory laughed and replied, her hand still on her stomach, "Aww, you scared your daddy," to the baby. She shifted her position so she could get a better read of Dean's face and smiled. "I just discovered that this morning," she answered the amused shock in his eyes.

Dean shook his head and reached out again, laying his hand over her belly. There was another kick, but he didn't yank his hand away this time. Instead, he pulled Rory closer and kissed the top of her forehead, whispering, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

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Dean's lunch break didn't last too long. He regretfully gave Rory a hug and kiss goodbye, kissing her belly too. Even though Rory was now almost six months into her pregnancy, it was just now starting to feel like the baby was an actual person and not an 'it' anymore.

Rory looked around and noticed that she wasn't that far from the Dragonfly. She smiled and headed in the direction of her mother's other baby - the one she shared with Sookie and possibly loved more - realizing how grateful she was to have something to do, even if it was a little walk.

"Hello Michel," Rory greeted, stepping up to the concierge desk where Michel was typing away on the computer.

Michel looked up, expecting a new guest, and frowned seeing Rory. "Oh, it's only you," he muttered with a leer, returning to his typing.

Rory rolled her eyes with a smile and headed towards the kitchen. "Hey Mom, Sookie," she greeted the two excessively chatty woman.

"Rory!" Sookie exclaimed, diving in and wrapping her arms tightly around Rory.

"Um, Sookie, you're suffocating her," Lorelai joked when Sookie didn't let go of her daughter right away.

"Oh, sorry, sorry." Sookie pulled away and brushed off Rory's arms and shoulders like she'd spilled something on her. Then she stepped back and took a look at Rory. "Wow, look at you," she gushed happily, "Having a baby and - " she did a quick, sweeping arm motion " - everything."

"Yeah," Rory grinned, resting her hand on her stomach. "Strange, I know."

"Aww, you're going to be such a good mom," Sookie replied. "Just like Lorelai."

"Talk about me as though I'm not here," Lorelai said.

Sookie and Rory both rolled their eyes, and Sookie's attention was called to by one of the kitchen staff setting her duck on fire. Lorelai gently guided Rory out of the kitchen and away from possibly flying frying pans.

"So, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked.

Rory took a seat in one of the chairs by the concierge desk while Lorelai rifled through some papers and Michel ignored the two of them. "I came to visit," she said simply.

"What about Dean?"

"I visited him, too. Made him lunch and then we sat out under an oak tree and ate."

Lorelai looked up, a look of fake hurt laced into her features. "You took your boyfriend lunch - an actual meal you cooked - but you couldn't bring your mother one?"

Rory let out a laugh and nodded her head towards the kitchen. "You have a whole restaurant twenty feet away. And you're in a nice, cool building, working. Dean's been in an un-air-conditioned house in the heat all day."

Lorelai pouted, "Still."

"Actually, I was hoping I could do some secretarial work for you… maybe earn a little extra money, too?" Rory asked hopefully.

"What about your classes? No homework?"

The grin on Rory's face grew broader. "That's the beauty of taking them online - I get the assignments and don't have to wait until the end of a lecture or until I get home from the paper to do them."

"How's that going? The paper, I mean."

She shrugged, "Paris sent me a couple topics to write about actually. It seems the staff hasn't forced her to walk the plank yet."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay, you can do some desk work for me."

"What?" Michel asked, turning to face the two of them. "But that's my job!" he objected agitatedly.

"You can escort the guests to their rooms, or show them the stables or the good hiking paths," Lorelai offered.

"Do you have any idea what the heat'll do to my roots? And I have this very bad dry skin that I must put lotion on or I peel like a potato."

"Then, put some lotion on and get outside to help the guests."

"Why does she get to stay inside?" Michel whined, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh, okay, let's see. A) she's my daughter and B) she's pregnant."

"You like her better."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and started to push Michel towards the door. "Yeah, well, when you're six months pregnant, I'll be sure to let you do all the desk work, too. I promise."

Rory laughed and stood, abandoning her seat in the armchair for a seat on the chair behind the desk.

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"Long day?" Dean asked, entering the kitchen and seeing Rory reclining on their bed through the open bedroom door.

Rory got up and entered the kitchen where Dean was placing two bags full of containers of food from Luke's on the kitchen table. She gave him a quick kiss before settling into a chair. All the walking she did today made her legs just a little sore, though that was expected with the extra weight she was carrying around.

"Not really," she said with a shrug.

Dean headed into their bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes, asking, "What'd you do after lunch?"

"Worked a couple hours at the inn for my mom," Rory replied nonchalantly.

Dean came back into the kitchen, a not so happy look on his face. "Rory," he said firmly, "I thought we decided that my salary was enough right now. You don't need to work. You have school and the baby to worry about."

"A baby that's not here yet," she pointed out.

Dean frowned at her and took a seat across from her. "The doctor said not to over-exert yourself."

Rory reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. "It's fine, trust me," she said. "It was just secretary work anyway. Mom wouldn't let me be on my feet for more than a minute and thirty seconds. Believe me, I timed it. And you know how fast I do the assignments my professors are sending me."

"You sure?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I was getting bored waiting for you all day. You know, I don't want to turn into - " She stopped abruptly, not wanting to mention the name.

"You're not," Dean stated, kissing her hand. "Besides, you have good reason for not working; Lindsey didn't."

Rory was getting uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, so she changed it. "So, dinner from Luke's?"

"Yeah, I stopped by on my way home to get you dessert since you brought me lunch today," Dean said with a smile. "Luke says he has to work late because Caeser left early. So, he sent dinner home with me as a - condolence, I guess." He started pulling the containers from the bags.

"Well, Michel got testy because Mom let me take over his job today - "

"Bet he liked that," Dean snickered, opening Rory's dish and placing it in front of her.

Rory laughed, "Yeah. Well, he called an emergency meeting between he, Mom, and Sookie to 'discuss this grievance against him,'" she said, quoting the last part in Michel's french accent.

Dean was laughing, "Sounds, productive. So, no Lorelai and no Luke tonight." He turned around and set Lorelai's container in the refrigerator.

"Nope, just the two of us. Or rather, three of us," she said, referring to her stomach.

Dean turned back around and opened his own dish. Before he started eating, he looked over at Rory. She was picking at the salad Luke had placed on the side, insisting that it was good for her and the baby. Dean just smiled and quietly replied, "I believe that's all we'll ever need."

Rory heard him, though, and smiled down at her plate.

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**Author's Note: Gah! I'm so sorry for making you guys wait! Gosh, I could kick myself... and I bet you guys could give me a nice kick too, huh? Heh. Well, this is mostly... bleh, I don't know what this is. I just felt like writing it. I'm almost finished with the next chapter, so you won't have to wait long for that one and LOOK-- I kept my promise! -- I updated before Thursday.**

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	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:… nope, sorry yet again -- they're not mine…**

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**Chapter 22**

The days passed with a kind of haze and laze. The unusual heat of the summer was wearing off to a cool breeze brought on by the oncoming fall weather, though it was still warm enough to wear tanks and shorts.

Rory built up a nice routine of balancing her class work and still maintaining her temporary job as concierge for the Dragonfly. Least to say, Michel was not pleased by the occurences at all, but after no or little resign from Lorelai and Sookie, he kept his mutterings to himself and faced the outdoors and the guests.

August passed, then September. The only thing really changing were the festivals Taylor Doose kept managing to cook up, and Rory's stomach. She could no longer see her feet, and the baby's kicks were ever abundant, often keeping her awake at night. She would read to it, and by the certain movements it made when she and Dean talked, Rory could tell the baby could distinguish their voices now.

"How come you don't know the sex yet?" Lane asked one afternoon, stopping by to give her their mail. Apparently, Kirk had decided to fill in for the mailman again, completely forgetting the last time and the fiasco he caused, thus recreating the incident all over again. He'd confused the town's mail recipients, and everybody was getting everybody else's mail. Again.

"Well, Dean and I want it to be a surprise," Rory said. "I know it's weird, to keep referring to it as it, but…"

"Well, I hope you have a girl."

"Yeah, Mom's hoping for that, too." Rory shrugged, "I don't know. I guess. It'd be nice to have a girl and hopefully be just as close with her as my Mom was with me."

"I bet Dean wants a boy, huh?"

Rory grinned, "See that's what I thought, but every time I bring it up, he just tells me that he'll be happy to have a healthy baby, no matter what the sex is." She frowned and bit her lip, "Honestly, I think he's scared."

"Of what?" Lane asked.

"Of losing me or the baby. And becoming a dad."

Lane waved her hand dismissively. "Not gonna happen. Losing you and the baby, I mean." Rory looked at her quizzically and she sighed, "Rory, I have known you my entire life. I know when you're truly content and when you're just putting on a show. You love Dean… and not because he was your first boyfriend or the first guy you fell in love with. It's because after all this time - after all the trials, fights, marriages, divorces, and town scandals - you and him managed to find each other again. And as for the baby… well, you've been doing such a good job, what could go wrong?"

"You know me that well, huh?"

Lane nodded.

"Then how do _I_ really feel about everything?" Rory asked, a strange sadness in her eye.

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"Rory?"

Lorelai came down the stairs, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The weather had made a turn for the worse as October began to roll in.

Rory was wrapped up in a blanket of her own on the couch, staring out at the dark windows full of frost - one of Lorelai's favorite signs of an oncoming snowfall. She looked up as Lorelai sat at the opposite end of the couch, facing her and mirroring her cross-legged style of sitting.

"What are you doing up? The baby keeping you awake?"

Rory slowly shook her head and let her gaze drift back to the window.

"Rory," Lorelai said in a coaxing tone.

"I can't do this, Mom," Rory finally whispered. She turned back to Lorelai, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I can't do this - I can't have a baby. I can't be a mom."

The look on Rory's face tugged at Lorelai's heart and she let out a sigh of slight relief, having thought something else was wrong. She patted Rory's leg and said, "Aww, kiddo, yes you can. I know you can."

"No, Mom, I can't," she insisted, shaking her head. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to finish college, get a job at a esteemed paper, then get married, and then have kids."

"Things don't always work out the way we plan them, Rory," Lorelai reasoned. '_Especially between me and Luke_,' she thought bitterly to herself.

"I know that, but this is way off," Rory paused, seeming to think about her words before she said them. The tears began to cascade down her cheek as she said, "You know, I love him. I swear, I love Dean with all my heart, but I can't do this. I can't be with him like this."

"What do you mean, 'like this?'" Lorelai asked, her own heart breaking at the sudden news. She felt like she shared some sort of connection with Dean - one where they both loved another person deeply and dearly, but the other person didn't want to be with them, not eternally. "Rory, if you love him…"

"Mom, I want to marry him! I want him to want to marry me! I want us to be a family - me, him, and the baby! That's the only way I can deal with this - the only way it'll keep me confident that this will all work out," Rory's outburst quieted and she turned tear-stained eyes on her mother once more. "Mom, why doesn't he love me? Why doesn't he want to marry me?"

Lorelai reached over and hugged her daughter, giving her a hard kiss on the top of her head. She pulled back and looked Rory in the eyes, brushing her thumb across the stains the tears had made. "I think it'd be better to ask him that yourself," she replied, getting up and motioning to the form of Dean standing just off to the corner of the room, by the staircase.

Lorelai exited the room quietly, patting Dean on the arm, and disappearing back to her and Luke's room.

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Lorelai had wanted to wait and hear what Rory and Dean talked about, but instinct and will won out over desire. She passed the window in the hall and paused. A light snowfall had started to fall, just a couple flakes - small, but not oblivious. She smiled, thinking, '_That is a good sign. Good things happen when it snows_.' She stepped inside her and Luke's bedroom, only to gasp.

Luke was awake, kneeling one-knee in the center of the room, wearing a tuxedo. A wedding tuxedo. A small black box was opened to reveal an antique diamond engagement ring.

Now it was Lorelai's eyes to tear up.

"Lorelai Gilmore," Luke said, an awkward yet genuine smile playing across his features, "will you marry me?"

Lorelai was speechless. She nodded and stepped forward, as Luke stood up and placed the ring on her finger.

"Look, I'm sorry for the way everything went with April over the summer. I'm sorry that I made you wait to get married. It's not that I didn't want to marry you, it's just… I, uh, wasn't sure if I could jump off that cliff like that." He smiled and added, "But, uh, with you, I think I'm ready to make that leap."

Lorelai smiled and reached up to kiss him, deeply and passionately on the lips. "I love you," she said, pulling away.

They walked over to the bed, and climbed in together, Lorelai examining the beautiful, unique ring Luke had managed to pick out all on his own. As she lay in his arms, pure ecstasy washed over her as she realized everything was falling into place again. Just before she let sleep overcome her, her eyes fell on the snow falling and delicately dusting the windowsill, and blanketing the town in sweet silence.

'_Yup, good things happen when it snows_.'

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**AN: Okay, so I know this chapter was really cheesy, but I kind of like the whole bit at the end. And the whole referring to the baby as an 'it' is sorta getting annoying, but I'm still not sure whether or not to have it be a boy or a girl? What do you guys all think? At the beginning I was thinking of having it be a boy and naming him Sam (or Jared because I can't picture a kid looking like him with any other name, lol -- and any JP fans who watch Supernatural understand the 'Sam' thing, right?) and breaking the 'Lorelai' naming tradition. Then I thought that was lame, and was leaning towards a girl (because I was going to break the two of them up somewhere in the middle and have Rory become Lorelai, thus creating a sequel (cause I can't keep Dean and Rory romantically apart in my stories, sheesh)), but then I don't know what to name her because I have to go along with the whole 'Lorelai' naming tradition. So what do you guys think? Boy or girl, and what should his/her name be?**

**Well, that was longer than expected, though because I'm on my laptop, it doesn't look that big of a note. Heh. Be grateful there was no Supernatural on tonight so I could finish writing this chapter and editing it. ..._pouts... _I miss my Jared's face… oh well.**

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	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer:...why do I get the feeling I'm repeating myself in every chapter?... oh, yeah, cause I am...**

**Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Wow, you guys really helped me a lot and I liked a lot of your suggestions!**

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**Chapter 23**

"Rory, we need to talk," Dean said quietly as he kneeled in front of her, breaking the brief silence that had settled after Lorelai had disappeared up the stairs.

Rory looked down at her hands, unsure of what to say.

"Rory…"

"I'm sorry, okay?" she finally said, looking up at him. She bit her upper lip and looked away a moment before turning red eyes on him again.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Dean sighed and rested his hand on hers.

She, however, pulled her hand away.

Dean looked hurt by the sudden audacity, but said nothing of it. He shifted his position from kneeling on the floor to sitting on the edge of the coffee table. He hooked his hands together, letting his elbows rest on his knees. Millions of things flew through his head - what to say, how to say it; explanations and discussions - but nothing seemed right. He finally settled on the only truth he could swear to. "Rory, I do love you - "

" - but you don't want to marry me, right?" Rory cut in rather bitterly.

"Rory," Dean started, stopping to think through his words before he said them, "I love you like no one else. You have to understand that. You have been the person for me since the day I saw you walk into Stars Hollow High. I've never loved anyone the way I've loved you." He shook his head as a grim smile crept across his lips. "But I can't marry you. Not now."

"Why not? If you love me and the baby, why can't we just be a family?"

"You've always known I've loved you, Rory," Dean reasoned, and Rory's small nod confirmed it. "But for some reason, you've always found someone better… with Jess, with Logan. I can't trust an always-and-forever promise from you, Rory, because it's too risky. I can't get married again, just to turn around and get divorced a second time."

"But that's not fair," Rory argued. "I love you, and you know it. I've been nothing but faithful to you for the past eight months."

"Eight months is nothing compared to a life-time."

Rory shook her head, bringing her hands to her face to wipe the tears from her blurry vision. "I can't take back Jess or Logan, Dean. I can't change what I did back then, but this is here and now. How can you possibly live with me and even hope to raise a child with me if you can't trust me?" she asked, desperately pleading for an answer.

"Rory," Dean responded lowly, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean?" Rory asked, but refused to wait for an answer. "You know, the only time I ever had a problem being faithful was that first time with Jess. After that, I was faithful to you and faithful to Logan. You were the one that pushed me away! You broke up your own marriage, Dean, and then you slept with me again and caused this whole mess while you were dating another girl!"

"Rory…"

"No, Dean! I've had enough of this!" Rory cried. "I don't want to be a single mom like mine! I can't do that, I'm not strong enough! I want my child to have a mother and a father, and to grow up in a home where both are present, and both love each other! Is that too much to ask?"

Silence befell the room once more, lasting for only a moment this time, though it seemed much longer.

"Rory," Dean started, reaching over tentatively and touching her hand which lay on her stomach. The baby inside kicked in sudden recognition to the added weight. A smile twitched in the corners of Rory's mouth, but before forming fully, her eyes rested on Dean. He looked really apprehensive, and the happiness fell from Rory's face.

"I can't…" He paused, slightly shaking his head and turning wide, pleading eyes on Rory. "Can we please just wait for marriage? Please? I just… I need a little more time, Rory."

Rory reprimanded herself seeing the anxiously sad look on his face. If she'd known he'd felt this strongly about waiting, then she would've restrained herself from blowing up about it. She had no idea it had been this important to him, and now she felt ashamed for starting it.

"Okay," she replied quietly, giving a small nod.

Dean's expression twitched to one of confusion and he asked, "Really?"

Rory nodded again, and Dean's face fell to relief. He leaned over, moving his hand, and kissed her hand. He rested his forehead against it for a moment, taking in the effects of the conversation they'd just had.

"I'm tired," Rory cut into his thoughts, shifting and forcing him to get up. "Let's go to bed, huh?"

"Are you sure? After everything - "

"It was just a mood swing, I guess," Rory lied. "I'm sorry for all of that," she apologized as he helped her stand and guide her to their bedroom. "I really do love you, you know."

Dean looked at her in the doorway to their room. For a moment, his eyes bore into hers, as if looking for the truth they both knew had been there since the beginning - since Rory was 16 years old. He smiled and leaned down, kissing her softly. "I know," he said, pulling away, "And I really do love you, too."

"I know," she responded tiredly, stifling a yawn.

Dean chuckled and helped her back to bed. Once under the warm blankets, Dean draped his left arm over her belly, intertwininghis handwith hers. Their comfort position. Just before he fell back asleep, he heard Rory mumble quietly to the darkness, "See, good things happen when it snows, Lorelai says."

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**AN: Okay, shorter than usual, but I felt like this little freak-out deserved a chapter all its own. Heh. Well, I've decided on what the baby's going to be and what it's name is going to be. Thanks again to all of you who reviewed! Wow, this story is actually winding up to a close. There's only two more chapters left, I believe, and then an epilogue if you guys want one. Then I'll be able to focus on TIA, which I've been neglecting updating as I debated the whole baby issue in my head, lol.**

**Read&Review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: Applaud AS-P for her brillant characters...uh, the creators of Baby Einstein for their DVDs... and Me for my plot... because that's all I got.Hehe, that rhymed...**

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**Chapter 24**

"Let's go get coffee," Lorelai said, poking her head in the doorway to her daughter's room.

Rory looked up from her notebook. Dean was needed at work early that morning, and Rory, having received an article via email from Paris insisting she was the only person to write about it, had grabbed up her notebook and laptop and started researching what it was the article needed to be about. She was half-way done when Lorelai had come in.

"I can't," Rory replied.

Lorelai blew a raspberry, "Sure you can."

"No," Rory said with emphasis, indicating her round stomach, "I can't."

"Oh, right, I forgot." Lorelai stood there for a moment, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Mom, you're distracting me."

"But I want coffee, and I need a coffee buddy," Lorelai whined.

Rory threw down her laptop and shut her laptop. "Fine," she relented, "Just let me get dressed into something warmer."

Lorelai smiled triumphantly and left her daughter to change, going to find her own hat and gloves. Ten minutes later, they were on their way to Luke's Diner, bundled up in coats, hats, gloves, and boots.

"Luke, coffee!" Lorelai called as she took a seat at the table by the window. Luke, who was helping a customer, sent Lorelai an incredulous look, but obliged and filled her a cup of coffee, excusing himself to bring it over to her.

"Thank you," she said sweetly.

"Rory, anything I can get you?" Luke asked, sending a reproachful look at Lorelai before turning to Rory.

"Um, some herbal tea, please."

Luke nodded and left to get her a cup. Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, her foot bouncing as she watched Luke walk away.

Rory noticed her mother's odd behavior. "What's got you so jumpy today?"

"I'm very happy," Lorelai smiled, taking another sip of coffee. "So, what did you and Dean talk about last night?"

"You mean you weren't eavesdropping on us?" Rory asked with her brow raised.

Lorelai shook her head.

"Well, I told him how I wanted to get married, but he doesn't think it's a good idea right now. He said he doesn't want to make the same mistake he made with Lindsey by jumping into marriage so soon again," Rory sighed. "He looked so upset and he really pleaded with me to wait, so I told him I would."

"Aww, babe, that's really sweet of you," Lorelai replied. Luke brought Rory her herbal tea and left with a stern look at Lorelai's dazed face. She watched him leave, checking out… ahem, defining parts of him.

Rory caught that look, too. "Okay, you've got to tell me what's going on with you and Luke."

The grin on Lorelai's face broadened and she leaned forward. "Luke proposed to me last night, so I'm engaged...still," she said quietly and rather confusingly, adding, "He apologized for making me wait, and he told me he's ready to jump into the whole marriage thing." She straightened up, saying, "Well, he used the word cliff, but I felt that's overly dramatic."

Rory's face lit up and, if she wasn't pregnant, she would've leaned forward and hugged her mom. "That's great news! Are you keeping the same date or what?"

"Well, I know I had it set in summer, but I really don't want to wait any longer. And what better a time than my favorite time of the year, when it's snowing? You know, it started last night right as I walked into the bedroom and found him on one knee."

"Yeah, I was thinking that after my and Dean's fight last night."

Lorelai raised her cup of coffee. "Good things happen when it snows," she said, and toasted it with Rory's cup of herbal tea.

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"I don't want a big birthday party," Rory complained.

"Why not? We'll invite the whole town like old times."

"Mom," Rory whined.

Dean entered, shaking the snow from his hair. "You know, isn't it a little early for blizzard season?" he asked, dropping his jacket and tool belt in his and Rory's room before coming back into the kitchen where Lorelai was digging through bags. He gave Rory a kiss on the cheek and noticed the sour look on her face. "What's wrong? And what is all this?"

"Mom wants to throw me a big birthday party this year," Rory explained.

"Will I actually be invited to this one?" he asked with a laugh, remembering how he wasn't allowed to her 16th birthday party because she had yet to tell Lorelai about him.

"I don't want one, though," Rory complained, ignoring the question and glowering at her mother.

"Why not?"

Rory rolled her eyes as though the answer was blatantly obvious. "Because then I'll be stuck entertaining the entire town, and everyone will be gushing over the baby and touching my stomach. I can't even walk around town without someone stopping me and asking how far along I am or when I'm due. It's getting annoying."

Dean chuckled and kissed the top of her head, rubbing his hands up and down her arms as he stood behind her.

"Hey, it's either a birthday party or a baby shower," Lorelai warned, emerging from the bags. "Pick and choose my darling."

Rory mumbled something incoherently.

"That's what I thought," Lorelai said. She seemed to pause and consider something though. "Although, you could milk it and get a whole bunch of stuff for the baby, too, that way saving some money for that new place you guys wanted."

"I'm not conning the townspeople," Rory replied dryly.

"Why not? You and I both know that they'll be bringing you baby presents even if it's a birthday party," Lorelai stated.

"She's right," Dean agreed.

"Mom, I just wanted to hang out with Dean and watch movies," Rory admitted. "I really don't want to have to go out or play hostess to anybody."

"But you do that every night, and besides, I'm playing hostess, not you."

Rory decided not to argue with her mother. It was probably going to be one of the last times Lorelai could throw her a party like this, at least for a while. She would humor her mother and play along with it.

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Even though Rory knew about the party, Lorelai still insisted on having it a surprise. Rory was restricted from coming anywhere within a 100 ft of the house, and was forced to hang out at Lane and Zach's place all day. Dean took her out to an early dinner as his birthday gift to her, and then brought her back to the house. Walking in the door, the lights were flipped on and everyone yelled surprise in the classic television style, but what caught Rory's eyes were the little pink, blue, yellow, and green ribbons of certain presents and the obvious fact that it wasn't just a birthday party, but a baby shower too.

Any anger Rory had had towards the party idea vanished as she was ushered into the living room and met with friendly faces of all the people she loved. Sookie and Jackson were there with Davey and Martha, Lane had come with Zach who hung out with Dean and Luke feeling uncomfortable at a baby shower (he thought it was a hint from Lane that she wanted kids now), Miss Patty, Babette, and even Lulu had come, though she left Kirk at home because he claimed he felt uncomfortable around pregnant woman.

The party lasted a good two and a half hours before Rory yawned and Lorelai and Sookie hoarded all of the guests out. Sookie helped Lorelai clean up the kitchen before she left, Jackson having already taken the kids home earlier, and Rory sat looking at all the boxes and bags of baby clothes, diapers, toys, and books, that people had brought for the baby. Dean had already carried the presents Rory had received for herself into their room.

"Your dad apologized for not being able to stay, but dropped this off earlier and said its from him and Gigi," Lorelai said, dropping a gift bag beside Rory.

Dean came back out and stood behind Rory as she opened the gift bag to find a box of the entire set of Baby Einstein© DVDs and an envelope. As Dean inspected the DVDs, obviously impressed, Rory opened the envelope to reveal a card with a check for $5000 and a note inside. The note read:

_I'm so very proud of the woman you've become. Your mother couldn't have done a better job, and Dean couldn't be a luckier guy._

_I hope it's alright, the gift I got you. I figured you could start on the baby's application to an ivy-league school early. Next week I'll probably be sending the hi-tech baby monitors I saw at the store, too. It was a tie between them and the DVDs._

_I talked to your mom about your living situation, and don't get mad. The conversation somehow drifted to that topic, and I felt like you and Dean deserve a place to call your own, and your mother really shouldn't lose the few bolts she has left in her head to another baby crying. So please, accept this check as a way to make up for those years I wasn't there for you._

_Love,  
Your Dad_

Rory smiled and shut the note. She handed the check to Dean and looked up at him, watching his reaction from calm to awe. "I think we can get that apartment now," she whispered.

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**Author's Note: Gosh, that was a fast update, huh? Okay, I know this stuff was just random, especially the whole party thing, but I couldn't think of anything else to put with Lorelai and Rory's little talk about what went on in the last two chapters.**

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**Sneak Peak for next chappie**:But in this moment he realized that Rory must really and truly love him to be doing this for him. She was giving birth to his child - their child. That was probably the most monumental act of showing her love for him that she's ever done.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: ... well, its official; all rights to The CW Television Network... darn...**

**Author's Note: Okay, so this is officially the last and final chapter of Eternal Promise... officially, but not technically... heh, there's still an** Epilogue **which turned out to be a little longer than I expected - and a little pointless - but not so much. So,** ahem**, this is the chapter we've all been waiting for -- baby Narco (sorry, you'll have to read to find out the rest)! Thanks again to all of you who gave me suggestions and opinions -- they were not wasted, let me tell you! So, without further ado...**

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**Chapter 25**

"You're leaving me again!" Lorelai whined for the umpteenth time.

Rory sighed. She and Dean had been looking for an apartment for a while. Even though they could make due with the small space in Rory's old bedroom, it was only two of them and they still had a baby on the way to consider. Tom, Stars Hollow's resident contractor, had just had his crew build a new apartment complex on the other side of town, and it was in walking distance to the Diner, the Inn, and even Lorelai's house. Since Dean was the carpenter of the site, and Tom's partner, the couple was actually getting the apartment cheaper than others, and Rory was able to put away some of the money Chris had given them.

"You knew I was moving out sooner or later," Rory settled, placing her book down and looking over at her mother standing on the other side of the concierge desk.

"Well, I thought it'd be later."

"Well, they're just now finishing up the apartments, so you still got Dean and me for a while."

"So, when exactly do I have to fork you over?"

Rory paused and thought it over. "Another two weeks I think," she replied.

"Well, they better pick up the pace because Dean was right," Lorelai mumbled, hugging her arms together, "Blizzard season arrived a little early this year."

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The apartment wasn't actually finished until the first weekend of November. Dean and Luke once again became movers, shuffling boxes and furniture from the house and diner to the apartment. Since they were both busy and tired, they waited until the second weekend to actually do all the moving, though. And because of all the cold air flooding into the house through the opened doors, Rory was exiled to the Dragonfly once again.

"You read too much," Lorelai said, purposely interrupting her from her novel.

Rory rolled her eyes and absentmindedly rubbed her belly. It had been aching all morning, but she'd thought nothing of it. After all, in the past it had always been nothing once she confronted the doctor about it.

An hour went by and Lorelai came out from the kitchen or wherever she'd been hiding. "Okay, why would you even have a cell phone if you don't keep it on? I swear I tried calling Luke and Dean, but there's no answer for the past half-hour," she complained, slamming her cell phone shut and shoving it in her purse. Noticing no correspondence from her daughter, she looked up and over at Rory. "Ror?"

Rory had her eyes squeezed shut and was sitting up straight, holding her stomach. "I think it's time, Mom," she said, a fearful pitch in her tone.

"Oh! Okay," Lorelai was automatically throwing on scarves and gloves and hats and coats, yelling, "Sookie!" and rushing over to Rory, who had managed to awkwardly stand and put her coat on.

Sookie came rushing out of the kitchen at Lorelai's call, pausing and getting anxious at the painful look laced over Rory's face, and the slightly terrified look on Lorelai's face.

"Um, go find Luke and Dean and tell them I'm taking Rory to Hartford Memorial to have the baby," Lorelai ordered, helping guide Rory out the door and into the car.

Rory was almost positive Lorelai had achieved the fastest record of reaching Hartford from Stars Hollow because they arrived in front of the hospital in fifteen minutes. Lorelai helped Rory into the hospital where a nurse stopped her.

"Miss, you can't leave your car out there."

"Like hell I can't," Lorelai replied, making it apparent that she'd use force if necessary. "My daughter's having a baby, and I really don't intend on leaving her side through this."

"Miss…"

"Mom, go," Rory said, from her seat in one of the orange plastic chairs. "I'll be fine. I have to wait for my doctor to get down here, and I have to wait for Dean and Luke. Go."

Lorelai grumbled something unintelligible but obliged. She moved her car to the stupid visitor parking lot and made her way back inside. Not seeing Rory where she'd left her, Lorelai began to freak out. One of the nurses, not the same from before luckily, pointed down the hall and informed Lorelai they were prepping Rory for the delivery. Lorelai tore off down the hall only to be told to wait outside the room on one of the benches.

"Lorelai!"

She looked up to see Dean and Luke rushing down the hall toward her. The doctor also came out.

"We're getting ready to push, so who's going to be in there?" he asked, looking from Lorelai to Dean to Luke.

"Me," Lorelai's hand shot up and both Dean and Luke sent her incredulous stares. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Me," Dean said firmly, stepping forward and following the doctor back into the room. Pausing before he disappeared through the door, he laid a shaking hand on Lorelai, anxienty written across his features. After all this time, this was it.

Lorelai gave him a confident smile and pat on the arm, watching the door shut behind him. She took a seat next to Luke on the bench.

"You are very cruel," Luke informed her.

"What?" she asked in that innocent tone again. She smiled, "Just think, another couple minutes, and there'll be another Lorelai running around Stars Hollow."

Luke groaned, "God, I hope it's a boy."

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Dean watched Rory struggle through the contractions. He was too lost in his own thoughts - '_I'm going to be a dad_,' - '_How's she doing this_?' - '_I really love her_,' - to notice how much his hand hurt from her squeezing the life out of it.

She had sweat beading on her brow, and her face was flushed red as the doctor instructed her to push. She didn't want to, but by sheer instinct she did anyway, the pain too much to keep bearing. Some would consider the whole sight slightly unattractive, but to Dean it was the most beautiful he'd ever seen her. She was enduring all this pain and hard-work birthing his child. A warmth welled up inside him and Dean realized that he had been acting a little bit irrationally the last couple weeks.

For the last several months, he kept telling himself that as much as Rory blatantly stated that she loved him more than life itself - that she'd made mistakes in the past and couldn't change them, but that she really did love him now - he believed that he could not trust her because of their rocky past together. His thoughts always traveled to Jess or Logan and those boys at the Gilmore Mansion. And he refused to let Rory break his heart again; refused to throw in his heart and soul only to have it stomped on a third time. He'd made the mistake of marrying young and divorcing young once, and he was determined not to make that mistake again.

But in this moment he realized that Rory must really and truly love him to be doing this for him. She was giving birth to his child - **_their_** child. That was probably the most monumental act of showing her love for him that she's ever done.

A final push and the sounds of a crying baby filled their ears. Rory collapsed back against the pillow of the bed, panting slightly. Hearing the cries of the baby brought a tired smile to her face, and Dean, gaining the feeling back in his hand, gave her hand a little squeeze, wiped the sweaty bangs out of her eyes, and kissed the top of her forehead.

"I love you," Rory replied as her breathing came under control.

"I love you, too," Dean said with a smile, kissing her forehead again. He became impulsive then, and asked the question he knew would take them onto their next journey together - a journey he was ready to take, as long as Rory stood beside him. "Will you marry me, Rory?"

Rory's eyes filled with tears, happy ones, and she gazed up into Dean's eyes, searching them to see if it was what he really desired. There was a little uncertainty there, but the same kind Rory felt herself. It would be an eternal promise, one that would tragically hurt the other if either of them broke it. But that comfort that they felt when they were with each other - the true, raw, real passion when he held her in his arms - that was enough for the both of them.

As long as they were in it together.

"Yeah," she said, her voice slightly shaking. She nodded and leaned forward to capture his lips in a binding kiss, pulling away and whispering with more ease, "Yeah, I will."

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The sound of a crying baby filled Lorelai and Luke's ears. There was crying and laughing, and both jerked their heads up and looked toward the door with excitement and eagerness written across their faces. It was another couple minutes before Dean poked his head out with a gigantic smile playing on his lips.

"Rory wants to see both of you," he said before ducking back into the room.

Lorelai nearly ran to be with her daughter, Luke hanging back a little awkwardly but following just the same.

"Mom," Rory smiled, a tiny baby nestled in her arms. Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing light caresses across the baby's dark brown hair, nose, cheeks, fingers, and toes sticking out. The happiness was almost too indescribable, and Lorelai had to take a deep breath at the picture perfect moment of seeing the two of them cradling their baby. Sure, Rory's face was flushed and her long bangs stuck to her forehead through sweat, but the smile she and Dean carried on their faces were probably the biggest smiles Lorelai had ever seen in her life.

"Hey there, kiddo," Lorelai greeted, walking over and kissing Rory on the forehead, peering into the beautiful face of the baby cradled in soft blankets in her arms. "So, what's the verdict?"

"It's a boy," Rory replied. "A beautiful baby boy."

"Sorry, we broke the tradition," Dean joked.

"Aww, that's fine with me," Lorelai commented, rubbing her finger over the tiny pink hands. "He's the most precious thing I've ever seen."

"What about me?" Rory asked in mock insult. Lorelai swatted at her playfully, but she handed the tiny baby over to Lorelai.

Dean noticed Luke lurking by the door and chuckled, "Aren't you going to come in Luke?"

Luke nodded and staggered forward, still jerking his movements as though he felt out of place. However, when Lorelai turned around and showed him the little baby boy, his heart melted and a genuine smile lit up his face.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Lorelai said as she smiled down at her grandson, "He's not a Gilmore, that's for sure."

"Nope, he's a Forester like I'm going to be," Rory replied, Dean kissing her hand at the mention.

Lorelai sent them a questioning look, a grin breaking across her face at the confirming little nod Rory gave. "Ahh, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed, hugging Rory with one arm and then wrapping it around Dean's shoulders. "After all these years of putting up with Miss Yale over there, I finally get a nice and normal son with a grandson." She handed the baby back to Dean, who cradled it in his arms for a while.

"But why did you say he's not a Gilmore? Surely not because of his last name," Rory replied.

"No," Lorelai said with a shake of her head. "He's not a Gilmore because he doesn't have the eyes." She motioned to the bright blue eyes she had and had passed on to Rory. "The minute you opened your eyes I knew you had my crystal blue ones. It was apparent from the get go. Something in the freaky Gilmore blood-line."

Rory shrugged, "That's okay. I'd rather him look as good as his father any day."

"Not Grandma?" Lorelai inquired with false hurt, then mentally checked herself and groaned. "Man, now I'm a grandparent. Thanks you two."

Luke hugged her.

"Can we have one next?" Lorelai asked with a giddy little kid's voice. "Huh? Can we, can we, can we? Huh, huh, huh?"

"If you behave," Luke teased.

Lorelai just kissed him and turned back to her daughter, future son-in-law, and grandson, mentally kicking herself for the thought of being a young grandparent again. "So, what's his name going to be? Lorelai the fourth?"

Luke shook his head at this, Dean quirked an eyebrow, and Rory rolled her eyes with a grin.

"No," she said. "His name is Sam. He just looks like a Sam, so that's why."

"Why not name him Dean Jr.? You could've called him DJ."

"Mom, why must children have to be named after their parents with you? You do realize if it went like that with every family, than you'd be named Emily and not Lorelai," Rory pointed out. "Because Lorelai the first was your grandmother and not your mother."

"And the moment was just so wonderful before you brought her into this," Lorelai muttered sarcastically.

"So, Sam Forester?" Luke changed the subject back to the baby where it wouldn't get ugly.

"Samuel Dean Forester," Rory corrected, watching Dean grin and laugh with their son, who seemed to know Dean was his dad just by laying eyes on him.

"You did good, kiddo," Lorelai stated, reaching down to wrap Rory in a hug again.

"Thanks, Mom."

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By the time Sammy was ready to come home, Dean had managed to set everything up in his and Rory's apartment. The news of the newest Gilmore decendent, with the last name of Forester of course, spread around town like wildfire. If it wasn't for the dreadfully cold weather, Dean bet Rory that Taylor probably would've made a parade in honor of her and Sam's coming home.

Chris got back from his business trip and came to see his grandson. Like Lorelai, he was a bit flustered to think of himself as a grandparent. Gigi, his other daughter, was only five years older than his first grandchild. It seemed unreal, but he was ecstatic anyway. Lorelai visited every night on her way from the Inn, a different dish of food for Rory and Dean that Sookie had cooked up that day in her hands.

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**AN: What'd ya think? Remember, there's still an epilogue after this.**

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	26. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: ...**_poke, poke_**... have you been reading the other 25 chapters? obviously not...**

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**Epilogue**

Thanksgiving was held in Lorelai's house, with Sookie, Jackson, Davey, and Martha there too. Sookie was the cook, of course, with help from Rory, and Dean, Jackson, and Luke sat around watching football, while Lorelai fussed over Sam, and Davey and Martha sat coloring on the floor of the living room. Just as they were sitting down to dinner, there was an unexpected knock at the door. Emily and Richard Gilmore stood on the other side, looking rather put-out and awkward - their silent way of admitting defeat. After apologizing to Rory and Dean genuinely - or what Rory accepted as genuine knowing her grandparents - they were introduced to baby Sammy, who they both prattled over with proud smiles and sincere congratulations to both Rory and Dean.

Lorelai and Luke married in mid-Decemeber in a ceremony attended by practically the entire town. Chris was there with Gigi, and Emily and Richard came, too. Emily will swear up and down that she did not shed a tear seeing her only daughter finally walk down the aisle. Finally, Lorelai Gilmore became… Lorelai Gilmore-Danes.

Christmas Eve was spent in Hartford at the Gilmore Mansion. It was the first time in years that Emily and Richard refused to host their annual Holiday Mixer, complaining that it would be too much for baby Sam. Lorelai, Luke, Rory, and Dean were all taken aback by this news, though by Emily's tales of her DAR meetings, it was obvious she bragged about her newborn grandson to her socialite friends. Richard, too, was heard over the phone to his clients boasting about Sam. Still, no annual party had been a big enough step for the two Great Gilmores that their four guests did not complain.

The New Year was celebrated in individual homes, amid warm fires, whispered nothings, and glasses of champagne.

Dean and Rory married in the spring of 2007. Little Sammy, with a mop of shaggy brown hair like his dad, was big enough to sit up on his own by then, and sat in Dean's little sister, Clara's, lap during the ceremony. Again, practically the entire town showed up for the event, including Chris with Gigi, Paris and Doyle, Emily and Richard Gilmore of course, and Logan sent his wishes to the happy family from his office in London.

Sammy's first word happened to be "Kirk", much to everyone's dismay, but he had learned how to say "Mama" and "Dada" by the time Rory's Yale graduation rolled around at the end of May.

By September, Rory was working part time for the Stars Hollow Gazette and the Hartford Heralder, all the while having plans in the work for a novel she decided on up-taking due to Dean's encouragement and the unexpected visit from Jess Mariano, who came bearing his latest book, congrats to the couple and their son, and his fiancee, Brynn. While that went on, Tom's company - the one that Dean had become a partner with - was being offered several contracts and loads of money by prestigious business men looking to add a few new districts to the edge of the town. In other words, Dean got a nice fat bonus, and he and Rory moved into a brand-new house with their son.

By the end of September, Sammy had learned how to walk, consequentially leading to his near potential kidnapping by an oblivious Kirk, whom he had decided to follow out of Luke's Diner one afternoon while his parents and grandparents were caught up in a conversation. Luckily, Dean grabbed him before he smacked into the glass door.

In November, Sam turned a year old, and his parents celebrated his birthday at their house with Lorelai, Luke, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Martha, Lane, Zach, Emily, Richard, Christopher, Gigi, and Paul Anka all in attendance. In the same month, Lorelai announced that she was pregnant. It had been at the Gilmore Mansion during the family's Thanksgiving Dinner, and the expression on Emily's face was actually one of delight.

In June of 2008, Lorelai and Luke welcomed their first daughter together, Nora Elizabeth Danes, into the world. She had the same infamous crystal blue eyes her mother and half-sister sported, along with the same brown locks.

Rory's first novel, "Eternal Promise," about a small town girl's relationship with her mother, the quirky townspeople, and her first love, was finished and published in the fall of 2009.

In August of 2011, Rory and Dean's second child, a daughter named Lorelai Alexa Forester, dubbed Layla for less confusing purposes, was born. The spitting image of all the Gilmore females, she had the same blue eyes and brown hair, even the same dimples. Sam, who more or less was the spitting image of Dean with his shaggy brown hair and olive green eyes, started kindergarten the next month, already at the head of his class knowing how to read, write, and tie his shoes.

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**Author's Note: Heh, well, that's that. I can finally change it to complete, yippee! I send thanks to all of you who read and reviewed - much love and hugs to you all! - and I hope you liked how I ended this. Add me to your author alert list because I may add one-shots that sequel to this, but nothing really major. I still have TIA that's in progress.**

**Read&Review -- and tell me what you thought of everything!  
xoxo**


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